Boca out of the Copa Libertadores, into Sudamericana play-offs | OneFootball

Claudio Úbeda’s Boca couldn’t make home advantage count, lost 1-0 to the Chileans and was eliminated from the Copa Libertadores. Now, the Xeneize will have to focus on the playoff round of the second-tier continental competition.

The hardest blow came at La Bombonera. On a night when the only result that mattered was a win to secure a place in the next round, Boca Juniors stumbled and lost 1-0 to Universidad Católica on the final matchday of Group D. With this defeat, the Xeneize were mathematically eliminated from the Copa Libertadores and their international campaign will continue in the Copa Sudamericana.

The team led by Claudio Úbeda came into this decisive match knowing it depended entirely on itself. However, it failed to find solutions against an opponent that executed a smart game plan and took a historic win from Buenos Aires to cement itself as the outright leader of the group. Despite the constant backing of the crowd and Leandro Paredes’ efforts to pull the strings from midfield, finishing was nowhere to be found and the dream of continental glory vanished with the final whistle.

Boca lost 1-0 at La Bombonera.

At the same time, and to fully seal the group’s outcome, Cruzeiro left no room for surprises in Brazil: they thrashed Barcelona of Ecuador 4-0, reached 11 points and booked their place in the round of 16 as runners-up to the Chileans.

The final standings of Libertadores 2026 Group D

With the results of the sixth matchday confirmed, the standings were decided simply by points, without the need to resort to the Olympic tiebreaker that had kept everyone on edge in previous rounds:

Copa Libertadores 2026 - Group D

Boca drop into the Sudamericana

By finishing third in their group, Boca’s international year is not over, but it does require a drastic change of mindset. The regulations state that the teams finishing third in the Libertadores move directly into the Copa Sudamericana playoffs (round of 32).

At this playoff stage, the Xeneize will face one of the teams that finished second in their respective Sudamericana groups in a two-legged tie. The key detail to keep in mind is that Boca, coming from the Libertadores, will decide this tie with the second leg away from home.

The blow of elimination is a deep one, but the weight of the shirt demands turning the page immediately. The goal now is to go after the Sudamericana to heal the wound and once again celebrate a continental title.

The opponent in the Sudamericana round of 32

The matchups are determined through an overall performance ranking. The system is designed to pair the best Sudamericana teams with the worst-performing teams dropping down from the Libertadores. The exact procedure is as follows:

In this way, it was established that O'Higgins of Chile will be Boca’s opponent in the round of 32. The first leg will be played in the week of Wednesday, July 23, and the return leg the following week.

Keep reading:

Claudio Úbeda spoke about his future as Boca manager after the elimination

When Boca play O'Higgins in the Copa Sudamericana

Boca’s player ratings in the Libertadores elimination against Católica

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