Copa Sudamericana Group Stage Review
Copa Sudamericana, South America’s second continental club tournament, is one of my favourite competitions, despite not having any coverage of it here in the UK. The tournament tends to be very competitive and serves up unlikely winners outside of the Copa Libertadores’ Brazilian domination.
For example, no club has won Sudamericana more than twice since it was founded in 2002. The last two tournaments have been won by Ecuadorian sides Independiente del Valle and Liga de Quito, who both competed in the Copa Libertadores group stages (which we’ll cover tomorrow) this season. But who will follow in the Ecuadorians’ footsteps this season? Below, we’ll examine how the 2024 Copa Sudamericana group stages played out.
Copa Sudamericana Group A
Group A served up a relatively open group of Bolivia’s Always Ready, Peru’s César Vallejo, Argentina’s Defensa y Justicia (DyJ)and Colombia’s Independiente Medellín.
The first gameweek saw DyJ win 1–0 in Peru and Always Ready claim a 2–0 victory at home to Independiente. DyJ and Always Ready played out a 1–1 in Argentina and Independiente defeated César Vallejo 4–2. Independiente beat DyJ 2–1 at home while Always Ready topped the group at the halfway mark by winning 2–0 at home to César Vallejo.
Always Ready continued their impressive form by hammering DyJ 3–0 while Independiente thumped César Vallejo 5–1 away — which saw the top two secure qualification. Independiente drew 1–1 in Argentina and César Vallejo held Always Ready to a 2–2 in Peru. Independiente won the group by thumping Always Ready 4–0, while César Vallejo got a win on the board 1–0 in Argentina.
Copa Sudamericana Group B
Group B saw Brazil’s Cruzeiro drawn with Paraguay’s Alianza FC, Ecuador’s Universidad Católica and Chile’s Unión La Calera.
Católica opened up with a creditable 0–0 at home to Cruzeiro while Unión won 1–0 in Paraguay. Católica then beat Unión 1–0 away while Alianza claimed an impressive comeback 3–3 at Cruzeiro, who’d led 3–0 inside 19 minutes, thanks to Jesús Antonio Figueroa Olaya’s 96th-minute equaliser. Cruzeiro’s shaky started continued with a 0–0 at Unión and Católica led the way with a 3–1 win at Alianza.
Cruzeiro bagged their first win with a 3–0 at Alianza and Católica dominated Unión 4–0 to qualify. Católica wasted 28 shots to draw 0–0 at home to Alianza and Cruzeiro edged past Unión 1–0. That saw the top two go head-to-head on the final day and Cruzeiro topped the group by beating Católica 1–0 while Alianza won 1–0 in Chile to claim 3rd place.
Copa Sudamericana Group C
Internacional were the huge favourites for Group C alongside Argentina’s Belgrano, Ecuador’s Delfín and Bolivia’s Real Tomayapo.
The group began with Belgrano holding Internacional 0–0 at home and Delfín winning 2–0 in Bolivia. The Ecuadorians then held Belgrano 1–1 at home and Tomayapo earned a 0–0 at Internacional. Belgrano won 2–0 in Bolivia and Internacional got their first win 2–1 at Delfín.
Two of Internacional’s were postponed and, in their absence, Belgrano drew 1–1 at home to Delfín and 1–0 home win over Tomayapo 1–0. On matchday 6, Delfín won a 4–3 thriller at home to Tomayapo and Belgrano secured the group win with a 2–1 win at Internacional. That left the Brazilians with 2 games in hand and trailing Delfín by 3 points. They moved level with Delfín with a 2–0 win at Tomayapo, which left the Ecuadorians in 2nd courtesy of having scored 4 more goals — given Internacional had only scored 5 in 5 — before they went head-to-head in the final match on Sunday. But the Brazilian side secured qualification as Lucas Alario’s 68th-minute goal earned a 1–0 victory at home to Delfín.
Copa Sudamericana Group D
Group D served up two favourites in last season’s Copa Sudamericana runners-up Fortaleza and Copa Libertadores runners-up Boca Juniors along with Bolivia’s Nacional Potosí and Paraguay’s Trinidense.
Potosí started with an impressive 0–0 at home to Boca while 10-man Fortaleza won 2–0 in Paraguay. Boca defeated Trinidense 1–0 at home and Fortaleza again had a man sent off after putting 5 past Potosí. Trinidense got a first win 2–0 at home to Potisí as Fortaleza impressively made it a red card hat trick as they beat Boca 4–2 at home with braces by Juan Martín Lucero and the brilliantly-named Yago Pikachu.
Fortaleza kept 11 men on the pitch to their detriment as they fell to a shock 4–1 defeat at Potosí while Boca won 2–1 at Trinidense, who picked up a red card in Fortaleza’s honour. Boca and Fortaleza qualified with a 1–1 in Argentina (with 0 red cards) and Potosí beat Trinidense 2–1. The group rounded out with Boca beating Potosí 4–0 with Edinson Cavani and Marcos Rojo goals and Fortaleza beat Trinidense 2–1.
Copa Libertadores Group E
Group E had a clear favourite in Brazil’s Athlético Paranaense alongside Uruguay’s Danubio, Venezuela’s Deportivo Rayo Zuliano and Paraguay’s Club Sportivo Ameliano.
Paranaense opened up with a 4–1 win in Paraguay and Danubio won 2–0 in Venezuela. The Brazilians established their dominance with a 6–0 hammering of Rayo Zuliano led by Agustín Canobbio’s brace while Ameliano earned a 0–0 at Danubio. Ameliano got on the board with a 4–0 win at Rayo Zuliano and Paranaense made it 3 from 3 as Madson scored the only goal at Danubio.
Ameliano got another win in gameweek four by beating Danubio 2–1 at home as goal-happy Athlético hammered Rayo Zuliano 5–1 away with a Gonzalo Mastriani brace. Ameliano’s impressive run continued by defeating Rayo Zuliano 1–0 at home as Danubio claimed a 2–1 win in Brazil. The final day saw Ameliano surprisingly top the group with a superb 1–0 win at Paranaense, who finished as the competition’s top scorers with 17 goals, and boring Danubio, whose 6 games produced just 9 goals, drew 0–0 with Rayo Zuliano.
Copa Sudamericana Group F
Corinthians were favourites for Group F alongside Argentinos Juniors, Paraguay’s Nacional and Uruguay’s Racing Club de Montevideo.
Racing held Corinthians to a 1–1 in the opening game while Argentinos Jrs won 3–2 in Paraguay. The Uruguayans then pulled off an impressive 3–0 win in Argentina as Corinthians beat Nacional 4–0 led by an Ángel Romero brace. Argentinos Jrs recovered by beating 10-man Corinthians 1–0 as Nacional drew 2–2 at home to Racing.
Racing caused another upset by beating Argentinos Jrs 2–1 at home as Corinthians beat Nacional 2–0 away. And the Uruguayans backed that up with a 2–1 win at home to Nacional that confirmed qualification alongside Corinthians, who hammered Argentinos Jrs 4–0 with a Yuri Alberto brace. Corinthians confirmed top spot by beating Racing 3–0 as Argentinos Jrs signed out with a 2–1 win over Nacional.
Copa Sudamericana Group G
Group G looked to have two clear qualifiers in Brazil’s Cuiabá and Argentina’s Lanús, who were joined by Peru’s Deportivo Garcilaso and Venezuela’s Metropolitanos FC.
The two favourites faced off in week 1 as Lanús earned a 1–1 in Brazil as Garcilaso beat Metropolitanos 3–2 at home through Anthony Gordillo’s injury-time winner. Lanús edged a 2–1 win at home to Garcilaso, who had a player sent off after 12 minutes, and Cuiabá won 2–0 in Venezuela. More red cards flowed as Garcilaso and Cuiabá drew 1–1 and each had a player sent off in the second half while Lanús won 2–0 at Metropolitanos.
The big two took control as Cuiabá won 3–0 at home to Metropolitanos and Lanús won 2–0 at Garcilaso. Lanús wrapped up the group with a 5–0 win at home to Metropolitanos led by a Walter Bou brace and Garcilaso earned an impressive 1–1 at Cuiabá while the bottom two also drew 1–1 in Peru.
Copa Sudamericana Group H
Group H also had two big favourites from Argentina and Brazil in Racing Club and RB Bragantino, alongside Chile’s Coquimbo Unido and Paraguay’s Sportivo Luqueño.
Racing opened up with a 2–0 win at Luqueño while Bragantino won 1–0 at home to Coquimbo. The big two met in gameweek 2 and Racing won 3–0 at home to Bragantino while Coquimbo beat Luqueño 1–0. Racing’s good start continued with a 2–1 win at Coquimbo and Bragantino beat Luqueño 2–1 at home.
Bragantino claimed a 2–1 win over Racing as the bottom sides drew 0–0 in Chile. Racing then beat 10-man Coquimbo 3–0 led by Adrián Manuel Martínez’s brace as Bragantino came from 2–1 down to win 3–2 in Luqueño thanks to Helinho’s brace and a Lincoln equaliser. Racing claimed the group win on the final day as they beat Luqueño 3–0 and Coquimbo earned a 1–1 at home to Bragantino.
Four players lead the way with 6 goals in Walter Bou (Lanús), Brayan León (Independiente Medellín), Juan Lucero (Fortaleza) and Adrián Martínez (Racing Club). Five players have 5 goals in José Angulo (Delfín), Ismael Diaz (Universidad Católica), Tomás Verón Lupi (Racing CM) and Yuri Alberto (Corinthians). And four more players have 4 goals in Emerson Batalla (Alianza), Pablo Erustes (Garcilaso), Isidro Pitta (Cuiabá), Iván Valdez (Ameliano) and Yago Pikachu (Fortaleza).
Looking Ahead To The Copa Sudamericana Knockouts
The Copa Sudemericna group winners Belgrano, Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Fortaleza, Independiente Medellín, Lanús, Racing Club and Sportivo Ameliano advance to the round of 16. While the group runners-up Always Ready, Athlético Paranaense, Boca Juniors, Cuiabá, Internacional, Racing Club de Montevideo, EB Bragantino and Universidad Católica go into the knockout round playoffs. Those eight teams will face the eight third-placed Copa Libertadores sides Barcelona SC, Cerro Porteño, Huachipato, Independiente del Valle, Libertad, Liga de Quito, Palestino and Rosario Central.
The Copa Sudamericana knockout round plays out in the weeks of 16–18 July and 23–25 July. The winners progress to the round of 16 over the weeks of 13–15 August and 20–22 August, the quarter finals over the weeks of 17–19 September and 24–26 September and the semi finals over the weeks of 22–24 October and 29–31 October. The Copa Sudamericana Final will be played in Asunción, Paraguay, on 23 November.
We’ll return with further reviews of Copa Sudamericana and Copa Libertadores as the competitions progress through the knockout stages!
