Copa Sudamericana 2026 draw: time, how to watch live and seedings

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Radio Gol

·19 March 2026

Copa Sudamericana 2026 draw: time, how to watch live and seedings

The second most important tournament on the continent outlines its roadmap with a high-impact Argentine presence. Find out the details of the draw for a new edition of La Gran Conquista.

The group stage draw for the 2026 Copa Sudamericana will take place this Thursday, March 19, at the Conmebol Convention Center in Luque, Paraguay. The event will be held in conjunction with the Libertadores draw, starting promptly at 20:00. The broadcast for our country can be followed live through TNT Sports Premium, ESPN, and DSports. Discover all the details.

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The 2026 edition of the Copa Sudamericana is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in recent times, mainly due to the return of teams that, by history and current form, usually occupy the top tier of the continent. The undeniable fact is the presence of River Plate; after a challenging 2025 in terms of results that excluded them from the Libertadores after 12 years, the Núñez team—now under the leadership of Eduardo Coudet—emerges as the great favorite and top seed.

Joining them in this contender status is Racing under Gustavo Costas, looking to revive its recent cup mystique. However, attention will also be on the spectrum's extremes: while San Lorenzo and Tigre will try to leverage their experience in Pot 2, the tournament welcomes absolute novelty with the international debuts of Deportivo Riestra and Barracas Central.

For the latter, the challenge will not only be football-related but also in terms of infrastructure and logistics, facing Brazilian giants like Atlético Mineiro or Santos in a competition that, due to the mid-year World Cup, will compress its group stage calendar between April and May, requiring deep squads and flawless physical performance.

Format of the 2026 Copa Sudamericana Draw

The 32 teams, which will be divided into 8 groups of four clubs each, will compete in the group stage. The definition of the pots for the draw will follow these criteria:

To determine the top seeds of each group, the Conmebol club ranking as of December 15, 2025, will be used. The 8 top seeds will be the teams positioned in the top 8 spots according to the mentioned ranking.
The second, third, and fourth lines will be composed of the subsequent 8 teams from the Conmebol club ranking as of December 15, 2025.
Within the same group, there cannot be two teams from the same country; therefore, if they are drawn, they will move to the next group, and another team will be drawn for that group.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.