# Copa CONMEBOL

The Copa CONMEBOL (English: CONMEBOL Cup) was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contest, similar to the UEFA Cup. Clubs qualified for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. Teams that were not able to qualify for the Copa Libertadores would play in this tournament. The tournament was played as a knockout cup. The tournament ended in 1999, following the expansion of the Copa Libertadores to 32 teams.
The Copa Mercosur and Copa Merconorte -which both started in 1998- replaced the Copa CONMEBOL, and the merger of those 3 cups would later transformed in the current Copa Sudamericana.
The last champion of the competition was Talleres, while Atlético Mineiro is the most successful club in the cup history, having won the tournament two times. The cup was won by seven different clubs but it was never won consecutively.

## Format
### Qualification

Each national association was assigned a number of entries determined by CONMEBOL which changed slightly from one edition to another. The best teams from the previous season that did not qualify for the Copa Libertadores through their league qualified for the Copa CONMEBOL. The tournament itself was played in two-legged knockout stages. The champion of the Copa CONMEBOL disputed the Recopa Sudamericana, the Copa de Oro and the Copa Master de CONMEBOL, albeit irregularly.

### Tournament

The tournament started in the first stage in which 16 clubs were paired in a series of two-legged knockout ties in the round of 16, the first of four stages that worked on a single elimination phase knockout system that culminated in the finals. During each stage of the tournament, ties were decided on points, followed by goal difference, away goals, then a penalty shootout after full-time of the second leg, if necessary.

## Records and statistics
### Lis of finals
#### Keys

* aet: after extra time
* p: defined on penalty shoot-out
* Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time
* Match playoff after the series ended tied on aggregate
* Defined on penalty shoot-out in the second leg
| Year | Winners | 1st. leg | 2nd. leg | Playoff/ Agg. | Runners-up | Venue (1st leg) | City (1st leg) | Venue (2nd leg) | City (2nd leg) |
| 1992 | Atlético Mineiro | 2–0 | 0–1 | – | Olimpia | Mineirão | Belo Horizonte | Manuel Ferreira | Asunción |
| 1993 | Botafogo | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 (p) | Peñarol | Centenario | Montevideo | Maracanã | Rio de Janeiro |
| 1994 | São Paulo | 6–1 | 0–3 | – | Peñarol | Morumbi | São Paulo | Centenario | Montevideo |
| 1995 | Rosario Central | 0–4 | 4–0 | 4–3 (p) | Atlético Mineiro | Mineirão | Belo Horizonte | Gigante de Arroyito | Rosario |
| 1996 | Lanús | 2–0 | 0–1 | – | Santa Fe | La Fortaleza | Lanús | El Campín | Bogotá |
| 1997 | Atlético Mineiro | 4–1 | 1–1 | – | Lanús | La Fortaleza | Lanús | Mineirão | Belo Horizonte |
| 1998 | Santos | 1–0 | 0–0 | – | Rosario Central | Vila Belmiro | Santos | Gigante de Arroyito | Rosario |
| 1999 | Talleres (C) | 2–4 | 3–0 | – | CSA | Rei Pelé | Maceió | Olímpico | Córdoba |

### Performances by club

Performance in the Copa CONMEBOL by club :
| Club | Titles | Runners-up | Seasons won | Seasons runner-up |
| Atlético Mineiro | 2 | 1 | 1992, 1997 | 1995 |
| Rosario Central | 1 | 1 | 1995 | 1998 |
| Lanús | 1 | 1 | 1996 | 1997 |
| Botafogo | 1 | 0 | 1993 | — |
| São Paulo | 1 | 0 | 1994 | — |
| Santos | 1 | 0 | 1998 | — |
| Talleres | 1 | 0 | 1999 | — |
| Peñarol | 0 | 2 | — | 1993, 1994 |
| Olimpia | 0 | 1 | — | 1992 |
| Santa Fe | 0 | 1 | — | 1996 |
| CSA | 0 | 1 | — | 1999 |

### Performances by nation

| Nation | Winner | Runner-up | Total |
| Brazil | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Argentina | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Uruguay | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Colombia | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Paraguay | 0 | 1 | 1 |

## Top scorers

| Year | Player (team) | Goals |
| 1992 | Aílton Delfino (Atlético Mineiro) | 6 |
| 1993 | Sinval (Botafogo) | 8 |
| 1994 | Juninho (São Paulo) Martín Rodríguez Alba (Peñarol) Tupãzinho (Corinthians) | 5 |
| 1995 | Horacio Carbonari (Rosario Central) Rubén da Silva (Rosario Central) Álex Escobar (América de Cali) | 4 |
| 1996 | Oscar Mena (Lanús) | 5 |
| 1997 | Valdir (Atlético Mineiro) | 7 |
| 1998 | Carlos María Morales (LDU Quito) Viola (Santos) | 4 |
| 1999 | Marcelo Araxá (São Raimundo-AM) Missinho (CSA) | 4 |