In March 2018, the Liga MX President, Enrique Bonilla, said that Liga MX and Major League Soccer (MLS) were open to start talks to have Mexican teams return and MLS teams from Canada and the United States to join if they could agree on terms with the CONMEBOL officials.[4] Teams from Mexico had withdrawn from the Copa Libertadores since 2017, but could return in the future if the issue of schedule conflicts could be solved.[5]
On 21 May 2019, CONMEBOL announced that clubs must pass certain eligibility requirements in order to compete in the 2020 Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.[6] One of the original requirements was that teams must be in the top division of their member association, but this was removed after many associations stated that they had not adapted the regulations of their qualifying competitions for the 2020 Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.[7]
The tournament was suspended after group stage matchday 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and resumed on 15 September 2020, ending with the final on 30 January 2021.[8][9]
Teams
The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations qualified for the tournament:[10]
2019 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified[19]
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[20][21]
On 12 March 2020, CONMEBOL announced that the tournament would be temporarily suspended after matchday 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with matches on matchday 3, originally scheduled for 17–19 March 2020, postponed to a later date yet to be confirmed.[22] On 18 March 2020, CONMEBOL announced that the tournament would be suspended until 5 May 2020.[23] On 17 April 2020, CONMEBOL announced that the tournament would be suspended indefinitely, and no date had been set for its resumption.[24] On 10 July 2020, CONMEBOL announced the new schedule for the remainder of the competition.[8][25]
Location of teams of the 2020 Copa Libertadores. Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H; White: Play-off rounds.
The draw for the qualifying stages and group stage was held on 17 December 2019, 20:30 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[28][29][30]
Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL ranking of the Copa Libertadores as of 15 December 2019 (shown in parentheses),[31] taking into account the following three factors:[32]
Performance in the last 10 years, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 2010–2019
Historical coefficient, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 1960–2009
Local tournament champion, with bonus points awarded to domestic league champions of the last 10 years
For the first stage, the six teams were drawn into three ties (E1–E3), with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg.
BOL The identity of the team Bolivia 4 was not known at the time of the draw, and was seeded in Pot 2.
For the second stage, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (C1–C8), with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, excluding the three winners of the first stage, which were allocated to Pot 2 and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.
CHI The identity of the team Chile 4 was not known at the time of the draw, and was seeded in Pot 2.
For the third stage, the eight winners of the second stage were allocated without any draw into the following four ties (G1–G4), with the team in each tie with the higher CONMEBOL ranking hosting the second leg. As their identity was not known at the time of the draw, they could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.
Second stage winner C1 vs. Second stage winner C8
Second stage winner C2 vs. Second stage winner C7
Second stage winner C3 vs. Second stage winner C6
Second stage winner C4 vs. Second stage winner C5
For the group stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups (Groups A–H) of four containing a team from each of the four pots. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group, excluding the four winners of the third stage, which were allocated to Pot 4 and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same group with another team from the same association.
BOL The identity of the team Bolivia 2 was not known at the time of the draw, and was seeded in Pot 4.
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 23 October 2020, 12:00 PYT (UTC−3).[33] For the round of 16, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (A–H) between a group winner (Pot 1) and a group runner-up (Pot 2), with the group winners hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association or the same group could be drawn into the same tie (Regulations Article 2.2.3.2).[1]
In the qualifying stages, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was used. If still tied, extra time was not played, and a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 2.4.3).[1]
The qualifying stages were structured as follows:
First stage (6 teams): The three winners of the first stage advanced to the second stage to join the 13 teams which were given byes to the second stage.
Second stage (16 teams): The eight winners of the second stage advanced to the third stage.
Third stage (8 teams): The four winners of the third stage advanced to the group stage to join the 28 direct entrants. The two best teams eliminated in the third stage entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage.
The two best teams eliminated in the third stage entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage. Only matches in the third stage were considered for the ranking of teams.
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams were ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Away goals scored; 5. CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 2.4.2).[1]
In the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg (Regulations Article 2.2.3.2). If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was used. If still tied, extra time was not played, and a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 2.4.3).
The final was played as a single match at a venue pre-selected by the CONMEBOL, with the higher-seeded team designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes (Regulations Article 2.2.3.5). If tied after regulation, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 2.4.4).
Qualified teams
The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage advanced to the round of 16.
Starting from the round of 16, the teams were seeded according to their results in the group stage, with the group winners (Pot 1) seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up (Pot 2) seeded 9–16.[34]
Palmeiras (2nd title)
Fidel Martínez
