The group stage is about to start! All about Copa Libertadores 2026 🔥 | OneFootball

The group stage of the 2026 Copa Libertadores de América gets underway this Tuesday (7) with six matches taking place.

Including the debuts of Fluminense and Cruzeiro. See all the matchups here.

The “main” stage of the 67th edition in the tournament’s history promises plenty of excitement.

Brazilian football is defending a streak of seven consecutive titles thanks to Flamengo, Palmeiras, Fluminense and Botafogo.

A run that allowed Brazil to equal Argentine football’s number of titles, something considered unlikely at the start of the 2000s - see more below.

Check out the details of the fight for Eternal Glory below and then have your say:

Who are the favorites to reach the final? 

📋 The groups

Rules 📝

Nothing has changed.

The 32 group-stage participants were split into eight groups of four teams each.

The top two teams in each group after home-and-away matches advance to the round of 16.

Meanwhile, the third-place team secures a spot in the Copa Sudamericana round-of-16 playoffs - facing a runner-up from the Sudamericana group stage.

Tiebreakers in the event of equal points in the group stage: 1) better goal difference; 2) more goals scored; 3) more away goals; 4) Conmebol ranking.

The round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals will be played over two legs, with the team that had the better overall campaign hosting the second leg. Tiebreakers: 1) goal difference, 2) penalty shootout.

The final will be a single match. A draw in regular time will lead to extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shootout.

Brazil dominates the list of the most valuable Libertadores players

Can you score 10/10? This week’s quiz has the national team, Brasileirão, Neymar and more

Check out the schedule 📆

Group stage: from April 7 to May 28

Knockout stage draw: Week of June 6

Round of 16: August 11 to 20

Quarterfinals: September 8 to 17

Semifinals: October 14 to 22

Final: November 28

The final will be played on that date at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay.

🤑 Keep an eye on the MONEY!

There was a US$1 million increase in the prize money specifically for the team that wins the final. It is now US$25 million. 

The champion can collect a total of US$40 million (R$210 million).

And Conmebol kept the “extra” money for each group-stage win.

See how much each stage of the competition to come will pay: 

Group stage: US$1 million (R$5.2 million)

Group-stage win: US$330,000 (R$1.7 million)

Round of 16: US$1.25 million (R$6.53 million)

Quarterfinals: US$1.7 million (R$8.8 million)

Semifinal: US$2.3 million (R$12 million)

Runner-up: US$7 million (R$36.55 million)

Champion: US$25 million (R$130.53 million)

The governing body had already handed out prize money in the preliminary rounds: US$400,000 (R$2 million) in the first, US$500,000 (R$2.6 million) in the second and US$600,000 (R$3.1 million) in the third.

Tiebreak between 🇧🇷 and 🇦🇷?

Brazilian football has been calling the Libertadores “its own” since 2019.

There have been seven straight titles since then. Flamengo, for example, became the country’s team with the most titles by winning three editions (2019, 2022 and 2025).

Palmeiras reached three trophies by winning back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021, while the duo of Fluminense (2023) and Botafogo (2024) got off the mark.

Brazil matched Argentina’s 25 titles thanks to this dominance and now hopes to take the outright lead. 

Brazil’s winning clubs: Flamengo (4), São Paulo (3), Santos (3), Grêmio (3), Palmeiras (3), Cruzeiro (2), Internacional (2), Vasco (1), Corinthians (1), Atlético Mineiro (1), Fluminense (1) and Botafogo (1)

Argentina’s champion clubs: Independiente (7), Boca Juniors (6), Estudiantes La Plata (4), River Plate (4), Racing (1), Argentinos Juniors (1), Vélez Sarsfield (1) and San Lorenzo (1)

Brazil ‘only’ has 6️⃣ teams

The early exits of Bahia (which did not even make the Sudamericana) and Botafogo in the preliminary rounds meant Brazilian football was left with only six participants in the group stage.

It is the lowest number since the five that featured in the 2015 edition: Corinthians, Palmeiras, Atlético-MG, Grêmio and São Paulo.

Flamengo (current Libertadores and Brasileirão champion), Corinthians (most recent Copa do Brasil winner), Palmeiras (runner-up in BR-25), Cruzeiro (third in BR-25), Mirassol (fourth in BR-25) and Fluminense (fifth in BR-25) are this year’s representatives.

👀 Mirassol and who else is making their debut?

The 2026 Libertadores had five debutants.

But two have already fallen by the wayside.

Paraguay’s 2 de Mayo (winner of the local cup) and Uruguay’s Juventud (qualified through domestic performance) had to come through the preliminary rounds.

And only Juventud did not leave empty-handed. They got past Universidad de Quito and Guaraní and then lost to Independiente Medellín, securing a place in the Sudamericana.

Meanwhile, 2 de Mayo caused an upset by knocking out Alianza Lima, but were eventually beaten by fellow Peruvian side Sporting Cristal. 

That left the aforementioned Mirassol and Argentina’s Platense and Independiente Rivadavia.

The former - who will be Corinthians’ first opponent - qualified by winning the 2025 Argentine Apertura.

While the less famous Independiente - Fluminense’s future opponent - won the Copa Argentina. 

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

📸 LUIS ACOSTA - AFP or licensors