U-20 Copa Libertadores

U-20 Copa Libertadores

Founded	2011
Region	CONMEBOL (South America)
Number of teams	12
Current champions	São Paulo (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Universitario River Plate São Paulo (1 title each)
2016

The Under-20 Copa Libertadores de América (Spanish: Copa Libertadores de América Sub-20) is the international association football club competition for teams that play in CONMEBOL leagues. It was created by Manuel Burga Seoane and the Federación Peruana de Fútbol.^[1][2] The competition started in the 2011 season in response to the increased interest in youth football.

History

The tournament had only two editions from 2011 to 2012. The first edition of this U-20 club competition was played in Lima, Peru. Players born on or after 1 January 1990 were eligible to compete in the first tournament, technically making it an under-21 competition. The tournament was originally going to be hosted in November 2010, however, because of the postponement, the player age eligibility was changed.^[3][4][5]

The tournament was temporarily discontinued after 2012.^[2] CONMEBOL was targeting to restart the competition in 2015.^[6] In March 2015, the CONMEBOL Executive Committee approved Paraguay as host of the next U-20 Copa Libertadores in January 2016.^[7]

Format

The cup is played by twelve teams, one from each CONMEBOL country, divided in three groups of four clubs each. The group winners and the best second-placed team qualify to play the semifinals and the winners then play the final, while the losers play the third-place game.

Winners

Year	Host	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
2011 Details	Peru	Universitario	1–1 (4–2 pen.)	Boca Juniors	América	1–0	Alianza Lima
2012 Details	Peru	River Plate	1–0	Defensor Sporting	Corinthians	2–1	Unión Española
2016 Details	Paraguay	São Paulo	1–0	Liverpool	Cortuluá	1–0	Lanús

Honors

Year	Best Player Award	Top Goalscorer	Best Goalkeeper Award	Fair Play Award
2011	Edison Flores	Sergio Unrein (4) Cristofer Soto (4)	Ramiro Martínez	Boca Juniors
2012	Juan Cazares	Rodrigo Gattas (6)	Gaspar Servio	Defensor Sporting River Plate (ex aequo)
2016	Not awarded	Luiz Araújo (5)	Not awarded	Cortuluá

Performance by club

Legend

• 1st — Champions
• 2nd — Runners-up
• 3rd — Third place
• 4th — Fourth place
• QF — Quarterfinals
• GS — Group stage
•  •  — Did not qualify

Team	2011	2012	2016	Total
Alianza Lima	4th	QF	•	2
América (MG)	•	QF	•	1
América	3rd	GS	•	2
Atletico Madrid	•	GS	•	1
Blooming	•	GS	•	1
Boca Juniors	2nd	GS	•	2
Bolívar	•	•	GS	1
Caracas	GS	•	•	1
Cerro Porteño	•	QF	GS	2
Corinthians	•	3rd	•	1
Cortuluá	•	•	3rd	1
Defensor Sporting	•	2nd	•	1
Deportivo La Guaira[8]	•	GS	GS	2
Flamengo	QF	•	•	1
Huachipato	•	•	GS	1
Independiente del Valle	QF	GS	GS	3
Jorge Wilstermann	GS	•	•	1
Junior	•	GS	•	1
Lanús	•	•	4th	1
Libertad	QF	•	GS	2
Liverpool	•	•	2nd	1
Melgar	•	•	GS	1
Millonarios	GS	•	•	1
Nacional	QF	•	•	1
River Plate	•	1st	GS	2
Sporting Cristal	•	GS	•	1
São Paulo	•	•	1st	1
Universidad Católica	GS	•	•	1
Universitario	1st	QF	•	2
Unión Española	•	4th	•	1

References

1. http://www.futbolecuador.com/stories/publica/27730
2. http://todosport.pe/seleccion-nacional/9038-no-habra-copa-libertadores-sub-20.html
3. "Confirman grupos de 'U' y AL en Libertadores Sub 20" [Groups confirmed of U and AL in U-20 Libertadores] (in Spanish). peru.com. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
4. "'U' y Alianza van por la Copa Libertadores sub 20" [U and Alianza target U-20 Copa Libertadores] (in Spanish). depor.pe. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
5. "Se viene la Libertadores Sub-20" [U-20 Libertadores is coming] (in Spanish). Conmebol.com. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
6. "La Copa Libertadores Sub-20 a nivel de clubes es el próximo objetivo de la CONMEBOL". CONMEBOL.com. October 24, 2014.
7. "En la sede de la CONMEBOL, se reunió el Comité Ejecutivo". CONMEBOL.com. March 3, 2015.
8. Includes Real Esppor.

External links

• Conmebol