The Copa Sudamericana, South America’s secondary club football tournament, returns to action this week with the knockout round play-offs. Following the conclusion of the group stage at the end of May, South America’s version of the Europa League returns with 16 teams in action, beginning on Tuesday.
Below is the schedule for the Copa Sudamericana:
| Stage | Draw date | Game Dates |
| First stage | December 18, 2025 | March 3-5, 2026 |
| Group stage | March 19, 2025 | Matchday 1: March 7-9, 2026 Matchday 2: April 14-16, 2026 Matchday 3: April 28-30, 2026 Matchday 4: May 5-7, 2026 Matchday 5: May 19-21, 2026 Matchday 6: May 26-28, 2026 |
| Knockout round play-offs | No draw | First Leg: July 21-23, 2026 Second Leg: July 28-30, 2026 |
| Round of 16 | Bracket is set on May 29, 2026 | First Leg: August 11-13, 2026 Second Leg: August 18-20, 2026 |
| Quarter-finals | Bracket is set on May 29, 2026 | First Leg: September 8-10, 2026 Second Leg: Sept. 15-17, 2026 |
| Semi-finals | Bracket is set on May 29, 2026 | First Leg: October 13-15, 2026 Second Leg: October 20-22, 2026 |
| Final | Bracket is set on May 29, 2026 | November 21, 2026 |
Starting in the knockout round play-offs, each matchup is played across a home-and-away two-legged tie until the final‒a single match at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia.
The 24 participating teams are seeded based on their group stage results
- Seeds 1-8: Copa Sudamericana group winners
- Seeds 9-16: Copa Sudamericana group runners-up
- Seeds 17-24: Copa Libertadores third-place teams
Seeds 1 through 8 automatically advance to the Round of 16, while seeds 9 through 24 compete in the play-off round.
Below is the schedule for the first leg of the play-off round:
- Nacional vs. Tigre — July 21
- Universidad Central vs. Santos — July 21
- Lanús vs. Cienciano — July 22
- Sporting Cristal vs. Red Bull Bragantino — July 22
- Independiente Medellín vs. Vasco da Gama — July 22
- Boca Juniors vs. O’Higgins — July 23
- Bolívar vs. Grêmio — July 23
- Santa Fe vs. Caracas — July 23
The second leg takes place on July 28–30, with the eight winners advancing to the Round of 16. The eight group winners were seeded based on their total points from the Group Stage.
- No. 8 seed Recoleta will play the winner of Boca Juniors vs. O’Higgins
- No. 5 seed Sao Paulo will play the winner of Bolívar vs. Grêmio
- No. 4 seed Olimpia will play the winner of Independiente Medellín vs. Vasco da Gama
- No. 2 seed River Plate will play the winner of Santa Fe vs. Caracas
- No. 7 seed Atlético Mineiro will play the winner of Sporting Cristal vs. Red Bull Bragantino
- No. 6 seed Macará will play the winner of Universidad Central vs. Santos
- No. 1 seed Botafogo will play the winner of Lanús vs. Cienciano
- No. 3 seed Montevideo City Torque will play the winner of Nacional vs. Tigre