User:Bmf 051/sandbox/2024 Copa Libertadores

The 2024 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores is the 65th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the Copa Libertadores), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. This will be the first season under a new format, where in the league phase each team plays eight games against different opponents, but all 36 teams are ranked in a joint group. This season will also see the return of invitees from Mexico for the first time since 2016, as well as being the first edition of this tournament to feature teams from the United States and Canada's Major League Soccer.

The competition began on 6 February and is scheduled to end on 30 November 2024, with the final to be played in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The winners will earn the right to play against the winners of the 2024 Copa Sudamericana in the 2025 Recopa Sudamericana. They will also automatically qualify for the 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2025 Copa Libertadores league stage.

Fluminense are the defending champions.

Teams
The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations qualified for the tournament:
 * Copa Libertadores champions
 * Copa Sudamericana champions
 * Brazil: 7 berths
 * Argentina: 6 berths
 * All other associations: 4 berths each

Additionally, 4 teams each from Liga MX and Major League Soccer (MLS) will enter as guests

The entry stage is determined as follows:
 * First stage: 14 teams
 * Teams which qualified for final berth of all countries except Argentina
 * 3 teams who qualified for final berth for Argentina or penultimate berth for all other countries who ranked lowest in CONMEBOL Club rankings
 * For this tournament, these are berth 3 from Colombia, Paraguay, and MLS
 * Second stage: 9 teams
 * Remaining teams who qualified for final berth for Argentina or penultimate berth for all other countries
 * League stage: 32 teams
 * Copa Libertadores champions
 * Copa Sudamericana champions
 * Teams which qualified for berths 1–5 from Argentina and Brazil
 * Teams which qualified for berths 1–2 from all other associations and guest leagues

Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows:

Draw
The draw for the qualifying stages was held on 19 December 2023, 12:00 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.

Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL Clubs ranking as of 18 December 2023 (shown in parentheses), taking into account the following three factors:
 * 1) Performance in the last 10 years, taking into account Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana results in the period 2014–2023.
 * 2) Historical coefficient, taking into account Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana results in the period 1960–2013 and 2002–2013 respectively.
 * 3) Local tournament champion, with bonus points awarded to domestic league champions of the last 10 years.

For the first stage, the 14 teams were drawn into seven ties (E1–E7), with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association or guest league could not be drawn into the same tie.

For the second stage, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (C1–C8), with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg. The seven winners of the first stage, which were seeded in Pot 2 and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association or guest league.

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.


 * 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 league stage, the 36 teams were drawn against two opponents from each pot including their own, one home and one away, for a total of eight matches per team. Teams from the same association or guest league could not be drawn against each other, excluding the four winners of the third stage, which were allocated to Pot 4 and could be drawn against another team from the same association or guest league. Also to avoid deadlocking, associations and guest leagues with at least four direct berths in the league stage (Brazil and Argentina) could have up to one match against an opponent from the same association or guest league not counting the winners of the third stage.


 * Notes

The clubs finishing in positions 9 to 24 in the league phase enter the knockout round playoffs, while the teams finishing in position 1 to 8 receive a bye to the round of 16. No draw will be used for the knockout round playoffs. Instead, ties will be determined by league phase position as follows: 9 vs. 24. 10 vs. 23, 11 vs. 22, 12 vs. 21, 13 vs. 20, 14 vs. 19, 15 vs. 18, 16 vs. 17.

The draw for the round of 16 onward will take place on 3 June 2024. Placement in the bracket will be based on the league stage rankings. Each team (the teams in positions 1 to 8 in the league phase and the eight knockout playoff round tie winners) will be drawn into one of two possible positions, using the following seeding pairs: clubs in positions 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, the winners of 9 vs. 24 and 10 vs. 23, the winners of 11 vs. 22 and 12 vs. 21, the winners of 13 vs. 20 and 14 vs. 19, and the winners of 15 vs. 18 and 16 vs. 17.

Qualifying stages
In the qualifying stages, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, extra time would not be played, and a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 2.4.3).

The qualifying stages are structured as follows:
 * First stage (14 teams): The seven winners of the first stage advance to the second stage to join the nine teams which are given byes to the second stage.
 * Second stage (16 teams): The eight winners of the second stage advance to the third stage.
 * Third stage (8 teams): The four winners of the third stage advance to the league stage to join the 32 direct entrants. The four teams eliminated in the third stage enter the Copa Sudamericana league stage.

First stage

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Second stage

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Third stage

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Final stages
In the final stages, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The home team for the second leg of each tie and the "home" team for the neutral site final (for administrative purposes) will be the the team that finished in the higher position in the league stage.

The top 8 teams from the league stage received byes to the round of 16 while the teams finishing 9 to 24 played in the knockout round play-offs, with match-ups based solely on the final league stage rankings.

A draw was used to place the teams in positions in the bracket, with each of the 16 teams (the teams seeded 1–8 and the eight knockout round play-off winners) each being drawn into one of two possible positions in the round of 16.

Knockout round play-offs

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Round of 16

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Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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