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The competition has had several different formats over its lifetime. Initially, only the champions of South American leagues participated. In 1966, the runners-up of the South American leagues began to join; in 1998, Mexican teams were invited to compete. Today at least three clubs per country compete in the tournament, while Argentina and Brazil each have five clubs participating. Traditionally, a group stage has always been used but the amount of teams per group has varied several times. The tournament consists of six stages. In the present format, it begins in early February with the first stage. The six surviving teams join 26 teams in the second stage, in which there are eight groups consisting of four teams each. The eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the final four stages, better known as the knockout stages, which ends with the finals anywhere between June and August. The winner of the Copa Libertadores becomes eligible to play in two extra tournaments: the FIFA Club World Cup (which replaced the Intercontinental Cup in 2005) and the Recopa Sudamericana. The current champion is Argentine club Estudiantes de La Plata. Fellow Argentine club Independiente is the most successful club in the cup history, having won the tournament seven times. The cup has been won by 22 different clubs and won consecutively by six clubs, most recently by Boca Juniors in 2001. |
