South American leagues opened their winter transfer window and closed out their 2025 seasons just ahead of the Christmas and New Year’s break. The Copa Do Brasil final was one of the compelling matches that took place at the end of the season. Here are all your headlines from the CONEMBOL region, including the Copa Libertadores field being set for 2026.
Corinthians Wins 2025 Copa do Brasil
Flamengo and Corinthians are the teams that can celebrate titles in Brazilian football for 2025. After narrowly defeating Cruzeiro on penalties (5-4 after a 2-2 aggregate score), Corinthians faced Vasco da Gama in the Copa do Brasil final. Vasco had defeated Fluminense on penalties in the other Copa semifinal.
After drawing 0-0 in Sao Paulo in front of 46,000 at the Arena Corinthians, four days later Corinthians showed up and defeated Vasco da Gama in the Maracana stadium in Rio 2-1, with Memphis Depay, the top scoring Dutch international, providing the winning goal. Yuri Alberto was also on the scoresheet for Corinthians, he struck first, while Nuno Moreira provided Vasco’s only goal. Vasco controlled possession but didn’t create enough chances despite 19 shots on goal compared to just 6 for Corinthians. Having Depay and Alberto made the difference for the legendary Brazilian club from Sao Paulo.
The title is Corinthians 4th Brazilian Cup title, in a season where they only finished 13th in the Brazilian Serie A (one place ahead of Vasco). The result pushes Corinthians into the 2026 Copa Libertadores in pot 2 of the draw. Six Brazilian teams including Corinthians, Flamengo, and Palmeiras are guaranteed a place in the Group Stage of the 2026 Copa Libertadores.
2026 Copa Libertadores Field Is Set, 2025 Semifinalist LDU Quito Secure Place
CONEMBOL leagues concluded for 2025, and the final standings helped determine the Libertadores places. Bolivia’s Champion Always Ready, and Bolivar are into the group stage. Argentina has five places including Boca Juniors, and champions Platense and Estudiantes.
Chile sends surprise champion Coquimbo Unido and Universidad Catolica. Paraguay will send Cerro Porteno and Libertad, Colombia sends champions Santa Fe and Junior de Barranquilla. Peru sends their champions Universitario and Cusco the runners up. Uruguay sends Nacional and Penarol the nation’s two biggest clubs. While Venezuela sends Universidad Central, the FUTVE Champion, and Deportivo La Guaira.
Ecuador’s Liga Ecuabet finished the season with LDU Quito second in the table on the final matchday, LDU Quito won their match while Barcelona SC, taking on league champions and rival Independiente Del Valle. Barcelona SC was playing the match under a heavy emotional burden, their defender Mario Pinieda was murdered by criminals in Guayaquil less than a week prior, but the match continued under that dark cloud.
First and Second Stage qualifying for the remaining Copa Libertadores field will take place in February 2026 with teams like Alianza Lima, Botafogo, Barcelona SC, and Independiente Medellin participating. Third stage qualifying is in March.
Copa Sudamericana Field Set for 2026
The 2026 Copa Sudamericana is set to be an event with a number of big-name teams vying for the trophy. The 2026 tournament features River Plate among six Argentine qualifiers. The Buenos Aires based side is already loading up in the winter transfer market hoping to improve after an incredibly disappointing season. Racing Club is also here from Argentina.
Brazil’s six participants include Sao Paulo FC, Gremio, and Santos, which was propelled by Neymar into the field. Chile’s big club Universidad de Chile is among their four participants, while three of Colombia’s four teams are considered “grandes” with Atletico Nacional facing rival Millonarios for the right to be in the tournament, and America de Cali against Atletico Bucaramanga.
Paraguay’s Olimpia and Nacional are among their four participants, with the qualifying stage taking place in March 2026. That stage pits teams directly against domestic competition to determine the final qualifiers from the “lower ranked” CONEMBOL leagues such as Bolivia, Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile. Only Brazil and Argentina’s leagues directly qualify their teams into the Sudamericana.
Estudiantes Wins Argentine Champions Trophy
Estudiantes continued their magical December, Lucas Alario scored two goals and they won the Argentine Champions trophy over earlier league winners Platense 2-1. Platense scored first but couldn’t sustain the lead, Estudiantes scored big wins over Racing Club and Platense to close out their season.
Main Photo Credit: Imago Images Copyright: xEDUARDOxCARMIM,
