2026 U-20 Copa Libertadores

The 2026 U-20 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores (Spanish: Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores Sub-20 2026) is the 10th edition of the U-20 CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the U-20 Copa Libertadores), South America's premier under-20 club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. It is being held in Quito, Ecuador from 7 to 22 March 2026.^[1][2]

The winners of the 2026 U-20 Copa Libertadores will earn the right to play against the winners of the 2025–26 UEFA Youth League in the 2026 Under-20 Intercontinental Cup.

Flamengo are the two-time defending champions, having won back-to-back titles in 2024 and 2025.

The competition will be contested by 12 teams: the title holders, the youth champions from each of the ten CONMEBOL member associations, and one additional team from the host association.^[3]

Each team could register a maximum of 20 and a minimum of 16 players, including at least 2 goalkeepers. Players born between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2009 (ages 16 to 20) were eligible to compete in the tournament (Regulations Articles 48 and 51).^[3]

Ecuador was confirmed as the host country for the tournament in December 2025,^[2] with Quito announced as host the city after the groups draw.^[22][23] This will be the second time that Ecuador hosts the tournament having previously done so in 2022.

The Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa and the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado will host the group stage matches, while the final stage matches will be played at the Estadio Banco Guayaquil.^[24][25]

The draw for the group stage was held on 10 February 2026, 12:00 PYT (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL headquarters in Luque, Paraguay and was conducted according to the following guidelines:^[26][27]

• The defending champions Flamengo were automatically assigned to Group A, position A1.
• The remaining 11 teams were seeded into four pots; one of two teams and three of three teams, based on the final placement of their national association's club in the previous edition of the tournament, in order to be drawn into three groups of four.
• Teams from the two best associations (Brazil and Argentina) were seeded into Pot 1 and drawn to the first position of groups B or C. The first team drawn was placed into Group B and the second team drawn placed into Group C.
• Teams from the next three associations (Uruguay, Peru and Colombia) were seeded into Pot 2 and drawn to the second position of groups A, B or C.
• Teams from the next three associations (Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia) were seeded into Pot 3 and drawn to the third position of groups A, B or C.
• Teams from the last two associations (Ecuador 1 and Venezuela) and the additional team from the host association (Ecuador 2) were seeded into Pot 4 and drawn to the fourth position of groups A, B or C.
• From pots 2, 3 and 4, the first team drawn was placed into Group A, the second team drawn placed into Group B and the final team drawn placed into Group C. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.

The draw resulted in the following groups:^[28]

On 19 February 2026, the CONMEBOL Referee Commission announced a total of 11 referees and 22 assistant referees appointed for the tournament,^[29][30] including a Spanish refereeing team from UEFA as part of the continuation of the UEFA–CONMEBOL memorandum of understanding signed in February 2020, which included a referee exchange programme since 2021.^[31]

The winners of each group and the best runner-up among all groups advanced to the semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

In the group stage, teams were ranked according to points earned (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Articles 20, 21):^[3]

1. Head-to-head result in games between tied teams;
   • Head-to-head points in the matches played among the tied teams;
   • Head-to-head goal difference in the matches played among the tied teams;
   • Head-to-head goals scored in the matches played among the tied teams;
2. Goal difference;
3. Goals scored;
4. Fewest number of red cards received;
5. Fewest number of yellow cards received;
6. Drawing of lots.

All match times are local, ECT (UTC−5), as listed by CONMEBOL.^[32]

The final stage will be played on a single-elimination basis and consists of the semi-finals, third place match and the final. If a match was tied at the end of regular playing time, the winner would be decided directly by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time will be played) (Regulations Article 24). The semi-final matchups will be:^[3]

• Semi-final 1 (SF1): Group A winner vs. Best runner-up
• Semi-final 2 (SF2): Group B winner vs. Group C winner

There have been 58 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 2.9 goals per match (as of 19 March 2026).

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

• CONMEBOL Libertadores U-20, CONMEBOL.com