1976 Copa Libertadores de América

Tournament details
Dates	February 25 – July 30
Teams	21 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Cruzeiro (1st title)
Runners-up	River Plate
Tournament statistics
Matches played	76
Goals scored	208 (2.74 per match)
← 1975 1977 →

The Copa Libertadores 1976 was the 17th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. The tournament began on February 23 and ended on July 30.

Cruzeiro won the competition, being the first Brazilian team, after Pelé's Santos, to win the continental competition. During the tournament, Cruzeiro suffered a great setback: the loss of the player Roberto Batata, who died in a car crash.

Qualified teams

Country	Team	Qualification method
Argentina 2 + 1 berths	Independiente	1975 Copa Libertadores champion
	River Plate	1975 Metropolitano champion 1975 Nacional champion
	Estudiantes	1975 Metropolitano runner-up
Bolivia 2 berths	Guabirá	1975 Copa Simón Bolívar champion
	Bolívar	1975 Copa Simón Bolívar runner-up
Brazil 2 berths	Internacional	1975 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion
	Cruzeiro	1975 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up
Chile 2 berths	Unión Española	1975 Primera División champion
	Palestino	1975 Miniliga Pré-Libertadores champion
Colombia 2 berths	Santa Fe	1975 Campeonato Profesional champion
	Millonarios	1975 Campeonato Profesional runner-up
Ecuador 2 berths	LDU Quito	1975 Serie A champion
	Deportivo Cuenca	1975 Serie A runner-up
Paraguay 2 berths	Olimpia	1975 Primera División champion
	Sportivo Luqueño	1975 Primera División runner-up
Peru 2 berths	Alianza Lima	1975 Descentralizado champion
	Alfonso Ugarte	1975 Descentralizado runner-up
Uruguay 2 berths	Peñarol	1975 Primera División champion
	Nacional	1975 Primera División runner-up
Venezuela 2 berths	Portuguesa	1975 Venezuelan champion
	Deportivo Galicia	1975 Venezuelan Championship runner-up

Draw

The champions and runners-up of each football association were drawn into the same group along with another football association's participating teams. Three clubs from Argentina competed as Independiente was champion of the 1975 Copa Libertadores. They entered the tournament in the Semifinals.

Group stage

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RIV	EST	POR	DGA
1	River Plate	6	5	0	1	10	3	+7	10	Qualified to Semi-Finals		—	1–0	2–1	4–1
2	Estudiantes	6	4	1	1	11	3	+8	9			1–0	—	3–0	4–0
3	Portuguesa	6	2	1	3	8	11	−3	5			0–2	2–2	—	3–1
4	Deportivo Galicia	6	0	0	6	3	15	−12	0			0–1	0–1	1–2	—

Group 2

Group 2 standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LDQ	CDC	BOL	GUA
1	LDU Quito	6	3	2	1	10	5	+5	8	Qualified to the 1st Place Playoff		—	1–1	2–1	4–0
2	Deportivo Cuenca	6	3	2	1	9	6	+3	8			0–0	—	3–1	1–0
3	Bolívar	6	3	0	3	16	11	+5	6			3–2	4–2	—	7–1
4	Guabirá	6	1	0	5	2	15	−13	2			0–1	0–2	1–0	—

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CRU	INT	OLI	SLU
1	Cruzeiro	6	5	1	0	20	9	+11	11	Qualified to Semi-Finals		—	5–4	4–1	4–1
2	Internacional	6	3	1	2	10	8	+2	7			0–2	—	1–0	3–0
3	Olimpia	6	1	2	3	7	11	−4	4			2–2	1–1	—	2–3
4	Sportivo Luqueño	6	1	0	5	5	14	−9	2			1–3	0–1	0–1	—

Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ALI	MIL	AUG	ISF
1	Alianza Lima	6	3	2	1	8	4	+4	8	Qualified to Semi-Finals		—	2–1	0–0	3–0
2	Millonarios	6	2	2	2	8	5	+3	6			1–0	—	4–0	1–1
3	Alfonso Ugarte	6	1	4	1	5	8	−3	6			0–0	1–1	—	2–1
4	Santa Fe	6	1	2	3	7	11	−4	4			2–3	1–0	2–2	—

Group 5

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PEÑ	UES	PAL	NAC
1	Peñarol	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	8	Qualified to Semi-Finals		—	2–0	2–1	1–1
2	Unión Española	6	3	2	1	5	3	+2	8			0–0	—	1–0	2–0
3	Palestino	6	2	1	3	5	6	−1	5			1–0	0–1	—	2–1
4	Nacional	6	0	3	3	5	9	−4	3			1–2	1–1	1–1	—

1st Place Playoff

Playoff standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	LDU Quito	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	2	Qualified to the Semi-Finals
2	Deportivo Cuenca	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	0

LDU Quito v Deportivo Cuenca

April 22 First Stage	LDU Quito	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Deportivo Cuenca	Guayaquil, Ecuador
	Carrera 66' Rivadeneira 115'	Report	Villagra 63'	Stadium: Estadio Modelo Alberto Spencer Herrera Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Óscar Veiro (Argentina)

Semi-finals

Group 1

Group 1 standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CRU	LDQ	ALI
1	Cruzeiro	4	4	0	0	18	3	+15	8	Qualified to the Final		—	4–1	7–1
2	LDU Quito	4	1	0	3	4	10	−6	2			1–3	—	2–1
3	Alianza Lima	4	1	0	3	4	13	−9	2			0–4	2–0	—

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RIV	IND	PEÑ
1	River Plate	4	2	1	1	4	1	+3	5	Qualified to the Final		—	0–0	3–0
2	Independiente	4	2	1	1	2	1	+1	5			0–1	—	1–0
3	Peñarol	4	1	0	3	1	5	−4	2			1–0	0–1	—

Playoffs

Team 1	Score	Team 2
River Plate	1–0	Independiente

Finals

July 21, 1976

Cruzeiro	4 – 1	River Plate
Nelinho 22' Palhinha 29', 40' Valdo 80'		Más 63'

Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Attendance: 58,720 (65,000)

Referee: Vicente Llobregat, Venezuela

July 28, 1976

River Plate	2 – 1	Cruzeiro
J. J. López 10' Pedro González 76'		Palhinha 48'

Monumental de Nuñez, Buenos Aires

Attendance: 90,000

Referee: José Martínez Bazán, Uruguay

July 30, 1976

Cruzeiro	3 – 2	River Plate
Nelinho 24' Eduardo 55' Joãozinho 88'		Más 59' Urquiza 64'

Nacional, Santiago

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Alberto Martínez, Chile

Copa Libertadores 1976 champions
Cruzeiro 1st title