Copa Libertadores

About Copa Libertadores

The Copa Santander Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América, (Portuguese: Taça Libertadores da América) is a football cup competition played annually by the top clubs of South America. In recent years, top clubs from Mexico have also competed. The tournament is organized by the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol/Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol (CONMEBOL). In recent years, the preliminary rounds usually commence in late January or early February, and the finals are contested around late June, July or August.

The current champion is the Ecuadorian club LDU Quito, while Argentine club Independiente is the most successful club in the cup history, having won the tournament for 7 times. The Copa Libertadores has also produced the most world club champions out of any FIFA confederation.

The name of the tournament is an homage to the Libertadores (Portuguese and Spanish words for Liberators), the main leaders of the independence wars of Latin America: Simón Bolívar, José de San Martín, Antonio José de Sucre, Bernardo O'Higgins, José Miguel Carrera and José Gervasio Artigas. Teams in contention for the title are referred to have the Sueño Libertador, in Hispanic America, or Projeto Tóquio, in Brazil.