Libertadores pots set, Corinthians discover possible opponents | OneFootball

On the evening of last Thursday (12), the Copa Libertadores da América determined its final participant for the group stage of 2026. The last team to qualify was Independiente Medellín from Colombia, who overcame Juventud de Las Piedras from Uruguay and secured a spot in the main stage of the continental tournament.

With the conclusion of the preliminary phase, the 32 clubs that will compete in the group stage are now confirmed, as well as their distribution into pots for the draw, which was determined based on the CONMEBOL ranking.

Photo: Disclosure/Conmebol

Corinthians appears in pot 2. The team led by Dorival Júnior earned its direct spot in the competition after winning the 2025 Copa do Brasil, defeating Vasco da Gama in the final and securing their fourth national cup title.

The division of pots for the draw was defined as follows:

Pot 1: Flamengo, Palmeiras, Boca Juniors, Peñarol-URU, Nacional-URU, LDU Quito-EQU, Fluminense, and Independiente del Valle-EQU.

Pot 2: Lanús-ARG, Libertad-PAR, Estudiantes-ARG, Cerro Porteño-PAR, Corinthians, Bolívar-BOL, Cruzeiro, and Universitario-PER.

Pot 3: Junior Barranquilla-COL, Universidad Católica-CHI, Independiente Santa Fe-COL, Rosario Central-ARG, Always Ready-BOL, Coquimbo Unido-CHI, Deportivo La Guaira-VEN, and Cusco-PER.

Pot 4: Universidad Central-VEN, Platense-ARG, Independiente Rivadavia-ARG, Mirassol, Barcelona de Guayaquil-EQU, Tolima-COL, Sporting Cristal-PER, and Independiente Medellín-EQU.

The draw that will determine the groups will take place next Thursday, March 19, at 8:00 pm, at the Conmebol headquarters in Luque, Paraguay.

In this phase of the tournament, Corinthians cannot face another Brazilian club. The only possibility for teams from the same country to meet would be if a team came from the preliminary phase, but this will not happen since Bahia and Botafogo were eliminated before the main stage. Besides Corinthians, Brazilian football will have five other representatives: Flamengo, Palmeiras, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, and Mirassol.

The group stage is scheduled to take place between April 7 and May 28. The grand final of the Libertadores is set for November 28, although the venue for the final has not yet been announced.

At this stage of the competition, the 32 clubs will be divided into eight groups of four teams each. The top two in each group advance to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams will play a playoff against teams coming from the Copa Sudamericana.

The round of 16 matchups will also be determined by a draw. In this phase, the teams will be separated into two pots, one with the group winners and the other with the runners-up. The teams with the best campaign will have the right to play the second leg at home. At the same event, the entire bracket up to the final will also be defined.

Champions of the Libertadores in 2012, Corinthians are looking to regain their prominence in the continental competition. In the 2025 edition, the club was eliminated in the last stage of the Pre-Libertadores by Barcelona de Guayaquil. The alvinegro team has not played in the group stage of the tournament since 2023, when they were eliminated at this stage and failed to advance to the knockout rounds.

While waiting for the start of the Libertadores, Corinthians remain focused on the Brazilian Championship. Their next match will be on Sunday (15), at 4:00 pm (Brasília time), against Santos at Vila Belmiro. The match will be valid for the sixth round of the tournament.

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