Conmebol may hold Libertadores final outside South America soon | OneFootball

Conmebol is considering taking the final of the Libertadores outside of South America in the coming years, as part of a strategy to internationalize the continent’s main club tournament.

Changing the venue for the title match would mean another alteration to the competition’s final, which since 2019 has been played as a single match at a neutral site.

Before the implementation of this format, which is used in the UEFA Champions League, the Libertadores champion was decided in home-and-away matches at the finalists’ stadiums.

“This topic [holding the final outside South America] is usually brought to the table and evaluated,” said Conmebol’s commercial director, Juan Emilio Roa, to the American portal The Athletic, in a report published this Tuesday.

“I can tell you that we have already decided on a plan for the coming years, but we are certainly evaluating it,” he added.

Roa explained that the possible change would be part of a strategy to “increase interest” in the Libertadores outside South America, a tournament that has been played since 1960 and has a huge impact on South American fans.

“We are working on a set of measures to make interest grow outside South America,” said the executive.

Debates about the possible change are happening at a time when Conmebol is discussing the sale of broadcasting rights for the 2027-2030 period, according to The Athletic.

This would mean following in the footsteps of other European competitions that have moved the finals of some of their tournaments to other countries, such as the Spanish and Italian Super Cups.

Recently, LaLiga tried to move the match between Villarreal and Barcelona to Miami, but abandoned the idea after opposition from clubs, fans, and players.

The final of the 2025 Copa Libertadores will be held on November 29 in Lima, Peru. Palmeiras and Flamengo will compete for the title, which for the seventh consecutive year will go to a Brazilian team.

In its 65 years of existence, the Libertadores has only had one final match played outside South America. That was in 2018, between Boca Juniors and River Plate.

After acts of violence before the second leg at the Monumental Stadium, River’s home ground, the decisive clash between the two most popular clubs in Argentina was held at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and ended with River claiming the title over their archrival.

Photo: Javier SORIANO / AFP

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