The South American league has opened its winter transfer window and concluded its 2025 season before the Christmas and New Year holidays. The Brazilian Cup final is one of the most compelling matches at the end of the season. Here are all the headlines from the Conebole region, including the 2026 Copa Libertadores.

Corinthians win 2025 Brazilian Cup

Flamengo and Corinthians are the teams that can celebrate the 2025 Brazilian Football Championship. After narrowly defeating Cruzeiro on penalties (5-4 after winning 2-2 on aggregate), Corinthians faced Vasco da Gama in the Brazilian Cup final. Vasco defeated Fluminense on penalties in the other Copa America semi-final.

After a 0-0 draw in front of 46,000 spectators at Sao Paulo’s Corinthians Stadium, Corinthians beat Vasco da Gama 2-1 at Rio’s Maracana Stadium four days later, with top scorer Netherlands international Memphis Depay scoring the winning goal. Corinthians’ Yuri Alberto also scored, scoring first, while Nuno Moreira scored Vasco’s only goal. Vasco dominated possession but failed to create enough chances, despite having 19 shots on goal compared to Corinthians’ six. The arrival of Depay and Alberto brought changes to this legendary Brazilian club from Sao Paulo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5EFvSHAXvY

This is Corinthians’ fourth Brazilian Cup title, a season in which they finished 13th in the Brazilian Serie A (one place ahead of Vasco). The result pushes Corinthians into Pot 2 of the 2026 Copa Libertadores draw. Six Brazilian teams, including Corinthians, Flamengo and Palmeiras, have guaranteed their place in the 2026 Copa Libertadores group stage.

The 2026 Copa Libertadores venue has secured a seat for LDU Quito in the semi-finals in September 2025

The CONEMBOL league ends in 2025, with the final standings helping to determine Libertadores’ spot. The Bolivian champions are always ready as Bolivar enters the group stage. Argentina has five spots, including Boca Juniors, champions Platens and Estudiantes.

Chile unexpectedly sent champions Universidad Coquimbo and Universidad Católica. Paraguay will send Porto Santo and Libertad, while Colombia will send champions Santa Fe and Junior de Barranquilla. Peru sent the champion Varsity team and runners-up Cusco. Uruguay Nacional and Penarol are the two biggest clubs in the country. Venezuela, on the other hand, sent Central University, FUTVE champions and La Guaira.

Ecuador’s Liga Ecuabet ended the season with LDU Quito winning the match on the final match day in second place in the standings, while Barcelona SC faced league champions and rivals Independiente Del Valle. Barcelona played under a heavy emotional burden after their defender Mario Pini was murdered by criminals in Guayaquil a week ago, but the game went on under a dark cloud.

On December 18, the Catholic University of Quito defeated the Universidad de Quito 3-2 in the Ecuador Cup final with a goal from Panamanian forward Jose Fajardo.

The first and second qualifying stages for the remaining teams participating in the Copa Libertadores will be held in February 2026, with teams such as Lima Union, Botafogo, Barcelona SC and Medellín Independiente participating. The third phase of qualifiers will be held in March.

2026 Copa Sudamericana

The 2026 Copa Sudamericana will be a tournament where many big-name teams compete for the trophy. River Plate is one of six Argentine qualifiers for the 2026 tournament. The Buenos Aires side have invested heavily in the winter transfer market in the hope of improving after an incredibly disappointing season. Racing Club is also from Argentina.

Brazil’s six-team squad includes Sao Paulo FC, Gremio FC and Neymar-promoted Santos FC. Chile’s big club Universidad de Chile is one of their four teams, while three of Colombia’s four teams are considered “big teams”, with Atlético Nacional competing for qualification against rivals Millonarios and América Cali against Atlético Bucaramanga.

Paraguay’s Olimpia and Nacional are among the four participating teams, with the qualifying stage set to take place in March 2026. At this stage, teams compete directly against domestic rivals to determine final qualifiers for the “lower-ranked” CONEMBOL leagues such as Bolivia, Uruguay, Colombia and Chile. Only the Brazilian and Argentinian leagues can directly promote their teams to the South American League.

Students win Argentina championship trophy

Estudiantes continued their magical December with two goals from Lucas Alario as they beat previous league champions Platens 2-1 to win the Argentinian Champions League. Platens opened the scoring but was unable to maintain the lead and the Students ended their season with wins over Racing Club and Platens.

Main photo credit: Imago Images Copyright: xEDUARDOxCARMIM,