The
Supercopa Sudamericana (
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
:
South American Supercup,
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
:
Supercopa Sul-americana), also known as the
Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange,
Supercopa Libertadores,
Supercopa João Havelange or simply
Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually by the past winners of the
Copa LibertadoresThe Copa Santander Libertadores de América , known simply as the Copa Libertadores and originally known as the Copa Campeones de América , is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960...
. The cup is one of the many inter-South American club competitions that have been organised by
CONMEBOLThe South American Football Confederation , commonly known as CONMEBOL , is the continental governing body of association football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations...
. The first competition was held in the 1988 season, and the last in 1997. The competition was then abolished to make way for the
Copa MercosurThe Copa Mercosur was a football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by the traditional top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. The competition was created by CONMEBOL to generate TV money to the participating teams, but it went beyond and ended up as a natural replacement...
and
Copa MerconorteThe Copa Merconorte was an international football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by clubs from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and later the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico...
in 1998, cups that both replaced
Copa CONMEBOLThe Copa CONMEBOL was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for eligible South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was the third most prestigious South American club football contest after the Copa Libertadores and Supercopa...
in 2000, and eventually transformed itself into the now-played
Copa SudamericanaThe Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes , known simply as the Copa Sudamericana , is an annual international club football competition organized by the CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second most prestigious club competition in South American football. CONCACAF clubs were invited between 2004...
.
Prior to its abolition, the Supercopa Sudamericana was regarded as the second most prestigious South American club competition out of the three major tournaments. behind the Copa Libertadores and ahead of the Copa CONMEBOL. The winner of the tournament would go on to play the winner of the Copa Libertadores in the
Recopa SudamericanaThe Recopa Sudamericana is an annual football match-up between the reigning champions of the previous year's Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, South America's premier club competitions....
. Since the abolition of the Supercopa Sudamericana, the Recopa Sudamericana place previously reserved for the Supercopa Sudamericana winner has been taken by the winner of the Copa Sudamericana.
The last champion of the competition was
River PlateClub Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....
, while
CruzeiroCruzeiro Esporte Clube is a Brazilian football team, from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and are one of the only five clubs to have never been relegated, along with Santos, São Paulo, Flamengo and Internacional. Founded on January 2, 1921, they are only one of three clubs to have participated in...
and
IndependienteClub Atlético Independiente is an Argentine athletic, sports and social club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División....
are the most successful clubs in the cup history, having won the tournament two times each. The cup has been won by eight different clubs and won consecutively by Cruzeiro and Independiente.
Format and rules
The format for the Supercopa Sudamericana underwent changes nearly every season. The most common reason behind it was the addition of a new Copa Libertadores winner. The only way to participate in the Supercopa Sudamericana was being a past winner of the Copa Libertadores. Vasco da Gama was later admitted into the competition as winners of the Copa Libertadores' predecessor, the Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones. The tournament has been predominately a
single-elimination tournamentA single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
with several stages.
Every round of the competition is contested over a two-legged tie. The teams accumulate points as per the results of the match (3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss). The team with the most points after both legs wins the series. Unlike European club competitions, South America historically did not use extra time to decide a tie that was level on aggregate. Ties in points would be broken first by goal difference, then by
away goalsThe away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. By the away goals rule, the team that has scored more goals "away from home" will win if scores are otherwise equal...
, and lastly by a penalty shootout after regulation of the second leg.
Participants 1988-1997
Argentinos JuniorsAsociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine football club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. Founded on August 15, 1904, the club was originally called the “Martyrs of Chicago”, in homage to the eight anarchists imprisoned or hanged after the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.-Early...
Boca JuniorsClub Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....
EstudiantesClub Estudiantes de La Plata , simply referred to as Estudiantes, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its history....
IndependienteClub Atlético Independiente is an Argentine athletic, sports and social club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División....
RacingRacing Club is an Argentine professional football club from Avellaneda, a suburb of Greater Buenos Aires. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered one of the "big five" clubs of Argentine football...
River PlateClub Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....
Vélez SársfieldClub Atlético Vélez Sársfield is a sports club based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vélez is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División, the top level of the Argentine league system...
CruzeiroCruzeiro Esporte Clube is a Brazilian football team, from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and are one of the only five clubs to have never been relegated, along with Santos, São Paulo, Flamengo and Internacional. Founded on January 2, 1921, they are only one of three clubs to have participated in...
FlamengoClube de Regatas do Flamengo , also known as Flamengo and familiarly as Mengão, is a Brazilian sports club based in the Flamengo bairro, Zona Sul, Rio de Janeiro, best known for its professional football team...
GrêmioGrêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, commonly known as just Grêmio , is a Brazilian professional association football team based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul founded by English and German immigrants on September 15, 1903. Major titles captured by Grêmio include one Intercontinental Cup, two Copa...
Santos São Paulo
Vasco da GamaClub de Regatas Vasco da Gama |Rowing Club]]), usually known as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a famous and traditional Brazilian multisports club from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, founded on August 21, 1898...
Colo Colo
Atlético NacionalCorporación Deportiva Atlético Nacional is a Colombian football team based in Medellín. They play their home games at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot stadium which also serves as home to Deportivo Independiente Medellín...
OlimpiaClub Olimpia is a Paraguayan sport club based in Asunción. It is best known for its professional football team which plays in the Paraguayan Primera División....
NacionalClub Nacional de Football is a Uruguayan sports club based in Montevideo. It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Uruguayan Primera División....
PeñarolClub Atlético Peñarol also known as Carboneros, Aurinegros and familiarly as Manya, is an Uruguayan sports club based in the Peñarol barrio, Montevideo, best known for its professional football team. The team plays their home matches in Estadio Centenario, the largest stadium in the country, but...