South American Cup Winners' Cup

The Copa Sudamericana (Portuguese: Copa Sul-Americana), officially called CONMEBOL Recopa, is an official international soccer tournament South American that takes place annually, and is organized by the South American Football Confederation.

This competition has been held every year since 1989, except for the period 1999-2002, when there was no competition. It is played annually between the champion of Conmebol Libertadores and Conmebol Sudamericana, in round-trip matches.

The tournament has been held 31 times, in which 21 teams have won the cup: Boca Juniors is the most successful team, with four victories, River Plate is the second most successful with three trophies, and São Paulo, Olimpia, Liga de Quito, Internacional, and Grêmio follow with two trophies each.

History

Previously a tournament called "Copa Sudamericana de Clubes" or "Copa Ganadores de Copa", also organized by the South American Football Confederation, where the teams that won the National Cups faced each other. It was held in 1970 and partially in 1971. Despite the name and the fact that it was organized by Conmebol, this tournament is not related at all to the current one, the format was different; but both competitions are recognized as official tournaments by the South American Federation. But to differentiate it from the current one, the predecessor is called Cup Winners Cup.

The South American Recopa was held for the first time in 1989, being the first National Champion of Uruguay to beat Racing Club.

In its beginnings, the tournament faced the champion of the Copa Libertadores with the champion of the Supercopa Sudamericana. When it was discontinued, the Recopa stopped being played for 4 years, until from 2003 to the present, the tournament pits the winners of the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.

Sponsorship

In the beginning, due to sponsorship by the Toyota company, the trophy was played for a single match in Japan; and its official name was Copa Toyota Sudamericana.

After his return, in the 2005 edition its official name was Fox Sports Sudamericana Recopa, from the 2006 edition to the 2008 edition, Recopa Visa Sudamericana, from the 2012 to 2016 edition, Santander Sudamericana Recopa, and from 2017 to the present, Conmebol Sudamericana Recopa Santander.

History

This list lists all champions from 1989 to present:

Year	Champion	Final Results	Subfield	Headquarters of the final
Recopa Sudamericana
1989	National (CL) (1) Uruguay	1:0 0:0	Racing Club (SS) Argentina	Centennial Stadium, Montevideo Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires
1990	Boca Juniors (SS) (1) Argentina	1:0	National athletic (CL) Colombia	Miami Orange Bowl, Miami
1991	Olympia (CL) (SS) (1) Paraguay	Olimpia was declared a champion automatically having won the 1990 Copa Libertadores and South American Supercopa 1990
1992	Colo-Colo (CL) (1) Chile	0:0 (5:4 p.m.)	Cruzeiro (SS) Brazil	Kōbe Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kōbe
1993	São Paulo (CL) (1) Brazil	0:0 0:0 (4:2 p.m.)	Cruzeiro (SS) Brazil	Estadio Morumbi, São Paulo Estadio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte
1994	São Paulo (CL) (SS) (2) Brazil	3:1	Botafogo (CC) Brazil	Kōbe Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kōbe
1995	Independent (SS) (1) Argentina	1:0	Vélez Sarsfield (CL) Argentina	Tokyo Olympic Stadium, Tokyo
1996	Grêmio (CL) (1) Brazil	4:1	Independent (SS) Argentina	Kōbe Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kōbe
1997	Vélez Sarsfield (SS) (1) Argentina	1:1 (4:2 p.m.)	River Plate (CL) Argentina	Kōbe Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kōbe
1998	Cruzeiro (CL) (1) Brazil	2:0 3:0	River Plate (SS) Argentina	Estadio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires
2003	Olympia (CL) (2) Paraguay	2:0	San Lorenzo (CS) Argentina	Los Angeles Coliseum Memorial, Los Angeles
2004	Science (CS) (1) Peru	1:1 (4:2 p.m.)	Boca Juniors (CL) Argentina	Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale
2005	Boca Juniors (CS) (2) Argentina	3:1 1:2	Eleven Caldas (CL) Colombia	Estadio La Bombonera, Buenos Aires Palogrande Stadium, Manizales
2006	Boca Juniors (CS) (3) Argentina	2:1 2:2	São Paulo (CL) Brazil	Estadio La Bombonera, Buenos Aires Estadio Morumbi, São Paulo
2007	International (CL) (1) Brazil	1:2 4:0	Pachuca (CS) Mexico	Hidalgo Stadium, Soto Pachuca Beira-Rio Stadium, Porto Alegre
2008	Boca Juniors (CL) (4) Argentina	3:1 2:2	Arsenal (CS) Argentina	Estadio Presidente Perón, Avellaneda Estadio La Bombonera, Buenos Aires
2009	Liga de Quito (CL) (1) Ecuador	1:0 3:0	International (CS) Brazil	Beira-Rio Stadium, Porto Alegre White House Stadium, Quito
2010	Liga de Quito (CS) (2) Ecuador	2:1 0:0	Students (CL) Argentina	White House Stadium, Quito Centennial Stadium, Quilmes
2011	International (CL) (2) Brazil	1:2 3:1	Independent (CS) Argentina	Estadio Libertadores de América, Avellaneda Beira-Rio Stadium, Porto Alegre
2012	Santos (CL) (1) Brazil	0:0 2:0	University of Chile (CS) Chile	National Stadium, Santiago Pacaembú Stadium, São Paulo
2013	Corinthians (CL) (1) Brazil	2:1 2:0	São Paulo (CS) Brazil	Estadio Morumbi, São Paulo Pacaembú Stadium, São Paulo
2014	Atletico Mineiro (CL) (1) Brazil	1:0 4:3 (dog.)	Lanús (CS) Argentina	Estadio Ciudad de Lanús, Lanús Estadio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte
2015	River Plate (CS) (1) Argentina	1:0 1:0	San Lorenzo (CL) Argentina	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires Estadio Nuevo Gasómetro, Buenos Aires
2016	River Plate (CL) (2) Argentina	0:0 2:1	Santa Fe (CS) Colombia	Estadio Nemesio Camacho El Campín, Bogotá Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires
2017	National athletic (CL) (1) Colombia	1:2 4:1	Chapecoense (CS) Brazil	Arena Condá, Chapecó Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellín
2018	Grêmio (CL) (2) Brazil	1:1 0:0 (5:4 p.m.)	Independent (CS) Argentina	Estadio Libertadores de América, Avellaneda Arena do Grêmio, Porto Alegre
2019	River Plate (CL) (3) Argentina	0:1 3:0	Athletic Paranaense (CS) Brazil	Arena da Baixada, Curitiba Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires
2020	Flamengo (CL) (1) Brazil	2:2 3:0	Independent of the Valley (CS) Ecuador	Atahualpa Olympic Stadium, Quito Maracaná Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
2021	Defence and Justice (CS) (1) Argentina	1:2 2:1 (4:3 pen.)	Palmeiras (CL) Brazil	Stadium Norberto Tomaghello, Florencio Varela Mané Garrincha Stadium, Brasilia
2022	Palmeiras (CL) (1) Brazil	2:2 2:0	Athletic Paranaense (CS) Brazil	Arena da Baixada, Curitiba Estadio Allianz Parque, São Paulo
2023	Independent of the Valley (CS) (1) Ecuador	1:0 0:1 (5:4 p.m.)	Flamengo (CL) Brazil	Estadio Banco Guayaquil, Quito Maracaná Stadium, Rio de Janeiro

Notes:
(pen.) = Shooting from the penal point
(pr.) = Extension

Official name of the tournament.

(CL): Champion of the Copa Libertadores de América.

(SS): Champion of the South American Super Cup.

(CC): Conmebol Cup Champion.

(CS): South American Cup Champion.

The Copa Libertadores champion was crowned champion on 21 occasions, while the Copa Sudamericana champion was crowned champion on 7 occasions and the Supercopa Sudamericana champion was crowned on 5 occasions.

Honours of Prizes

Team Titles

Equipment	Country	Titles	Subcam.	Years champion	Years underfield
Boca Juniors	Argentina	4	1	1990, 2005, 2008	2004
River Plate	Argentina	3	2	2015, 2016, 2019	1997
São Paulo	BrazilBrazil	2	2	1993, 1994	2006, 2013
International	BrazilBrazil	2	1	2007, 2011	2009
Olympia	Paraguay Paraguay	2	0	1991, 2003
Liga de Quito	EcuadorEcuador	2	0	2009, 2010
Grêmio	BrazilBrazil	2	0	1996, 2018
Independent	Argentina	1	3	1995	1996, 2011, 2018
Cruzeiro	BrazilBrazil	1	2	1998	1992, 1993
Vélez Sarsfield	Argentina	1	1	1997	1995
National athletic	ColombiaColombia	1	1	2017	1990
Flamengo	BrazilBrazil	1	1	2020	2023
Palmeiras	BrazilBrazil	1	1	2022	2021
Independent of the Valley	EcuadorEcuador	1	1	2023	2020
National	Uruguay Uruguay	1	0	1989
Colo-Colo	ChileChile	1	0	1992
Science	Peru Peru	1	0	2004
Santos	BrazilBrazil	1	0	2012
Corinthians	BrazilBrazil	1	0	2013
Atletico Mineiro	BrazilBrazil	1	0	2014
Defence and Justice	Argentina	1	0	2021
San Lorenzo	Argentina	0	2		2003, 2015
Athletic Paranaense	BrazilBrazil	0	2		2019, 2022
Racing	Argentina	0	1		1989
Botafogo	BrazilBrazil	0	1		1994
Eleven Caldas	ColombiaColombia	0	1		2005
Pachuca	Mexico Mexico	0	1		2007
Arsenal	Argentina	0	1		2008
Students	Argentina	0	1		2010
University of Chile	ChileChile	0	1		2012
Lanús	Argentina	0	1		2014
Santa Fe	ColombiaColombia	0	1		2016
Chapecoense	BrazilBrazil	0	1		2017

Titles by country

Country	Titles	Subcamponatos
BrazilBrazil	12	11
Argentina	10	13
Ecuador	3	1
Paraguay	2	0
ColombiaColombia	1	3
ChileChile	1	1
Uruguay Uruguay	1	0
Peru Peru	1	0
Mexico Mexico	0	1

Titles by competition

Participations

Updated data to the South American Recoup 2023.

Equipment	Participation
Boca Juniors	5
River Plate	5
São Paulo	4
Independent	4
International	3
Cruzeiro	3
Olympia	2
Vélez Sarsfield	2
Liga de Quito	2
San Lorenzo	2
National athletic	2
Grêmio	2
Palmeiras	2
Athletic Paranaense	2
Independent of the Valley	2
Flamengo	2
Colo-Colo	1
National	1
Racing	1
Atletico Mineiro	1
Botafogo	1
Science	1
Eleven Caldas	1
Pachuca	1
Arsenal	1
Students	1
Santos	1
Corinthians	1
University of Chile	1
Lanús	1
Santa Fe	1
Chapecoense	1
Defence and Justice	1

Historical points table

The 30 editions from 1989 to 2023 are taken into account. Without considering the 1991 edition, since Olimpia won it automatically.

Source: Historical table at www.rsssf.com

Pos.	Club	Part.	Titles	PJ	PG	PE	P	GF	GC	Dif.	Pts.
1	Boca Juniors	5	4	8	4	3	1	15	10	+5	15
2	River Plate	5	3	9	4	2	3	8	8	0	14
3	Liga de Quito	2	2	4	3	1	0	6	1	+5	10
4	Cruzeiro	3	1	5	2	3	0	5	0	+5	9
5	Independent	4	1	6	2	2	2	6	9	-3	8
6	Flamengo	2	1	4	2	1	1	6	3	+3	7
7	Palmeiras	2	1	4	2	1	1	7	5	+2	7
8	Corinthians	1	1	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	6
9	Atletico Mineiro	1	1	2	2	0	0	5	3	+2	6
10	International	3	2	6	2	0	4	9	9	0	6
11	São Paulo	4	2	7	1	3	3	7	9	-2	6
12	Grêmio	2	2	3	1	2	0	5	2	+3	5
13	Santos	1	1	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2	4
14	National	1	1	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	4
15	Independent of the Valley	2	1	4	1	1	2	3	6	-3	4
16	Athletic Paranaense	2	-	4	1	1	2	3	7	-4	4
17	Olympia	2	2	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3
18	National athletic	2	1	3	1	0	2	5	4	+1	3
19	Defence and Justice	1	1	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3
20	Eleven Caldas	1	-	2	1	0	1	3	4	-1	3
21	Chapecoense	1	-	2	1	0	1	3	5	-2	3
22	Pachuca	1	-	2	1	0	1	2	5	-3	3
23	Science	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1
24	Colo-Colo	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
25	Vélez Sarsfield	2	1	2	0	1	1	1	2	-1	1
26	Students	1	-	2	0	1	1	1	2	-1	1
27	Santa Fe	1	-	2	0	1	1	1	2	-1	1
28	Racing Club	1	-	2	0	1	1	0	1	-1	1
29	Arsenal	1	-	2	0	1	1	3	5	-2	1
30	University of Chile	1	-	2	0	1	1	0	2	-2	1
31	Lanús	1	-	2	0	0	2	3	5	-2	0
32	Botafogo	1	-	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	0
33	San Lorenzo	2	-	3	0	0	3	0	4	-4	0

Top scorers

In bold active players in a club in South America.

Pos. Player G. P. J. Prom. Debut Equipment Other clubs 1 Rodrigo Palacio 5 6 0.83 2005 Boca Juniors 2 Leandro Damião 3 2 1.50 2011 International 3 Geovanni 2 2 1.00 1998 Cruzeiro = Christian Giménez 2 2 1.00 2007 Pachuca = Claudio Bieler 2 2 1.00 2009 Liga de Quito = Hernan Barcos 2 2 1.00 2010 Liga de Quito = Diego Tardelli 2 2 1.00 2014 Atletico Mineiro = Carlos Sánchez 2 2 1.00 2015 River Plate = Andrés Ibargüen 2 2 1.00 2017 National athletic = Gerson 2 2 1.00 2020 Flamengo = Alexandre Pato 2 3 0.67 2007 International Corinthians = Martín Palermo 2 4 0.50 2004 Boca Juniors = Maximilian Velázquez 2 4 0.50 2011 Independent Lanús = Dayro Moreno 2 4 0.50 2005 Eleven Caldas National athletic = Braian Romero 2 2 0.50 2021 Defence and Justice

Data and statistics

• Olimpia is the only team in the history of world football to win an international tournament without playing it, the South American Recoup was automatically awarded in 1991, because in 1990 he won the Copa Libertadores and the South American Supercopa. A similar case was that of São Paulo in 1994, which won both tournaments, although it was decided to play against Botafogo, champion of the Conmebol Cup.

• The 1994 South American Recoup played between São Paulo and Botafogo had an anecdotal fact. While São Paulo won the 1993 Libertadores Cup and the South American Supercopa 1993, he must have automatically won the 1994 South American Recopa (as Olimpia had succeeded, winning the 1990 Libertadores Cup and the South American Supercopa 1990 was automatically awarded the South American Recopa 1991); but the Conmebol decided that São Paulo should play the 1994 Recopa Sudamericana.

• La Recopa Sudamericana 1998 jugada entre River Plate y Cruzeiro se jugó en 1999. This edition that should have been played in 1998 was played the following year in the A Group of the Mercosur Cup 1999, the fact occurred because both clubs coincided in the same group, and the CONMEBOL decided that the champion would be the winner in the overall result of those matches in the group phase, in case the series were matched, they would not have been penalized, being inconclusive without champion.

• Ecuadorian Gonzalo Chila-Cheme participated in the South American Recoupe 2010 with an adulterated identity.

• The final one that has had more goals was between Boca Juniors and Arsenal de Sarandí in the South American Recoup 2008, pairing 8 goals, 5 of Boca and 3 for Arsenal. This amount of goals was equaled in the 2014 South American Recopa that confronted Atlético Mineiro and Lanús, with 5 and 3 goals respectively and in the 2017 South American Recoup between Atlético Nacional and Chapecoense also with 5 and 3 goals respectively.

• The most unequal endings are: The dispute between the Cruzeiro and River Plate with a total result of 5-0 in the 1998 edition; and the one that played Liga de Quito versus the International, with a total result of 4-0 in the 2009 edition.

• The fastest goal was converted by Dayro Moreno, a national Atlético player, at minute 1 in the 2017 South American Recoup, putting the first one back in the Atanasio Girardot Stadium against Chapecoense.

• As before the Recopa was contested in neutral court, the champion was consecrated as such outside South America, either in Japan or the United States. But in the Recopas that were played from local and visitor, there is almost always a champion of the team that goes to the match back as local, consecrationing champion in his own court. Only River Plate, Boca Juniors, Inter de Porto Alegre, Atlético Mineiro, Liga de Quito, Defensa y Justicia e Independiente del Valle have been the teams to go out champions in other songs (they gave the Olympic Tour).

• The only teams that have been champions twice consecutively are São Paulo, Boca Juniors, Liga de Quito and River Plate.

• Independent, River Plate, Boca Juniors, São Paulo, International and Quito League, have been the only teams to go out champions in the three current continental tournaments: Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and Recopa Sudamericana. For their part, Olimpia and Vélez Sarsfield also won three Conmebol tournaments: Copa Libertadores, Recopa Sudamericana and the discontinuada Supercopa Sudamericana, considered one of the four precursors of the current South American Cup.

• International, River Plate and Independent have been the only teams to go out champions in the four current Conmebol tournaments: Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Recopa Sudamericana and Copa Suruga Bank.

• Jonatan Maidana is the player who most times won the South American Recoup, 4 times: in 2006 and 2008 with Boca Juniors and in 2015 and 2016 with River Plate.

• The 1995 South American Recoup between Independent against Velez Sarsfield was going to dispute in Kōbe but an earthquake shook part of this city and caused it to change headquarters for the Recopa this time was in Tokyo

• The South American Recoup was played consecutively from 1989 to 1998 between the champion of the Copa Libertadores and the champion of the South American Supercopa, but stopped playing from 1999 to 2002, and then played again from 2003 until today between the champion of the Copa Libertadores and the champion of the South American Cup. This was due to the fact that the Conmebol decided to eliminate the South American Super Cup, to give way to two other tournaments which were the Merconorte Cup and the Mercosur Cup, both tournaments were played from 1998 to 2001 (the first participating clubs in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; but then joined clubs in Mexico, the United States and Costa Rica. In the second, only clubs from the countries of the Southern Cone participated: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. It was for this reason that the South American Recopa stopped playing for a while because the Conmebol never established a norm if the Copa Libertadores champions, the Merconorte Cup and the Mercosur Cup could play with each other a final triangular, or if the champion of the Merconorte Cup and the champion of the Mercosur Cup had to face with each other and the winner of that match would just play the Recopa.
• Marcelo Gallardo is the most winning DT of the tournament with three conquests (editions 2015, 2016 and 2019) all with River Plate.
• The meetings between Grêmio and Independiente and Flamengo and Independiente del Valle are the duels that were repeated by a final of South American Recopa since they faced the editions of 1996, 2018 and 2020, 2023 respectively.
• Independent of the Valley, Science and Defense and Justice are the only champion teams of the South American Recoup that have not been champions of the Copa Libertadores unlike the rest of the teams, as they played their respective finals as champions of the South American Cup.

Delivery ceremony

The award ceremony has only taken place in seven countries. These have been:

Brazil (12)
Argentina (7)
Japan (5)
United States (3)
Colombia (2)
Paraguay (1)
Ecuador (1)

City	Delivery ceremony	Year
Buenos Aires	6	1989, 1998, 2008, 2015, 2016 and 2019
Kōbe	4	1992, 1994, 1996, 1997
São Paulo	4	2006, 2012, 2013, 2022
Porto Alegre	3	2007, 2011, 2018
Belo Horizonte	2	1993, 2014
Rio de Janeiro	2	2020, 2023
Miami	1	1990
Assumption	1	1991
Tokyo	1	1995
Los Angeles	1	2003
Fort Lauderdale	1	2004
Manizales	1	2005
Quito	1	2009
Quilmes	1	2010
Medellín	1	2017
Brasilia	1	2021

• Updated data to the South American Recoup 2023.

Social networks

The South American Football Confederation recently opened the official Twitter account for the Recopa Sudamericana, thus joining one more of the official Conmebol tournaments with its own social network.