Brazil has a chance to achieve a historic feat with its representatives in this year’s Copa Libertadores. Botafogo, Flamengo, Palmeiras, Sao Paulo, Internacional, Fortaleza and Bahia will have the chance to earn the 25th tournament trophy for the country, which would draw the ranking of nations with the most titles.
Currently, Argentina leads with 25 cups, but the distance to rivals has been falling in recent years, driven by the series of achievements of Brazilian teams.
In the last eight editions, seven had champions from Brazil – the first was with Grêmio, in 2017. In the period, 11 teams in the country reached the decision, with four editions being defined only by Brazilian teams.
The last final that did not have a club here as a winner was in 2018, when River Plate defeated his biggest rival, Boca Juniors, in the decision.
After that, Flamengo (2019 and 2022), Palmeiras (2020 and 2021), Fluminense (2023) and Botafogo (2024) were responsible for the current Brazilian hegemony.
Among the current representatives of the country, only two never won the competition, Fortaleza and Bahia. Flamengo, Palmeiras and Sao Paulo have three titles each, the International has two trophies, while Botafogo won in 2024 their unprecedented cup.
Several factors are pointed out to justify the current situation of the main event of the continent, but the financial power of Brazil’s teams compared to other South America teams is often pointed out as the most determining.
National leagues awards are a good example of this disparity. While Botafogo won R $ 48.1 million for winning the Brazilian Championship again after 29 years, LDU, LEGA LEGAL LAST LEVEL, received a seven times smaller award, $ 1.2 million (R $ 6.9 million).
That’s right the Ecuadorian Championship being the second with the largest awards on the continent in 2024. Third place in this list is Uruguay, which allocated $ 750,000 ($ 5.8 million) to Peñarol, which added the 52nd cup to its gallery last year.
The growing disparity in recent years has led Conmebol (South American Football Confederation) to create a plan in 2022 to strengthen local competitions of its ten associations. Each member receives $ 1 million annually (R $ 5.8 million) to distribute as awards.
Each country could choose between two options to divide the value -integrally for the champion or with a percentage also intended for the deputy.
Even without reducing the difference to Brazil, which was also entitled to money, the amount distributed by Conmebol helped strengthen the awards of neighboring countries – in some cases until doubled what was being paid so far, which at least helps to form stronger teams and keep the dream of facing Brazilian teams alive.
See the premieres of Brazilian teams in Libertadores
Tuesday (1)
21h30 – Fortaleza x Racing – Paramount+
Wednesday (2)
9:30 pm – Talleres x Sao Paulo – Globo (SP and part of the network), ESPN and Disney+
9:30 pm – Universidad de Chile x Botafogo – Globo (RJ and part of the network) and Paramount+
Thursday (3)
19h – Bahia x International – ESPN and Disney+
19h – Sporting Cristal x Palmeiras – Paramount+
9:30 pm – Deportivo Táchira x Flamengo – ESPN and Disney+
