The Copa Sudamericana continued this week with the second legs of the knockout round play-offs. Following the conclusion of Thursday’s matches, the Round of 16 fixtures and knockout stage bracket are set.
Road to the Knockout Stage
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 were 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
Knockout round play-offs results
- Bolívar advanced to the Round of 16 after defeating Grêmio in both legs.
- After a scoreless draw in Lima, Red Bull Bragantino won 1-0 at home via a Pedro Henrique goal.
- A 2-2 first-leg draw in Medellín was followed by an 85th-minute second-leg winner for Vasco da Gama in Rio.
- Boca Juniors and O’Higgins went to a penalty shootout following respective 1-0 home wins. The Argentine giants advanced, winning the penalty shootout 4-3.
- Tigre lost 2-1 at home but created enough distance after a 3-0 first-leg road win in Montevideo vs. Nacional.
- Santa Fe did not concede across two legs, with a 2-0 home win and a 3-0 road win vs. Caracas.
- After losing 2-0 in Lanus, Cienciano advanced with a dominant 4-0 home win in Cusco.
- Santos dominated in both legs, with a 4-1 road win and a 4-2 home win vs. Universidad Central
Below are the full results for the play-off round:
| Fixture | Aggregate | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolívar vs Grêmio | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 |
| Sporting Cristal vs Red Bull Bragantino | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Independiente Medellín vs Vasco da Gama | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Boca Juniors vs O’Higgins | 1–1 (4–3 pens) | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Nacional vs Tigre | 2–4 | 0–3 | 2–1 |
| Santa Fe vs Caracas | 5–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Lanús vs Cienciano | 2–4 | 2–0 | 0–4 |
| Universidad Central vs Santos | 3–8 | 1–4 | 2–4 |
From the eight teams that dropped from the Copa Libertadores, just two (Boca Juniors and Bolívar) advanced to the Round of 16. O’Higgins and Gremio were the two group runners-up that failed to advance. Now, the eight winners from this round will face Seeds 1 to 8 — the Copa Sudamericana group winners.
- Seed 1: Botafogo
- Seed 2: River Plate
- Seed 3: Montevideo City Torque
- Seed 4: Olimpia
- Seed 5: São Paulo
- Seed 6: Macará
- Seed 7: Atlético Mineiro
- Seed 8: Recoleta
The bracket is now set for the Round of 16 and all knockout rounds moving forward
| Match | Matchup | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Boca Juniors vs Recoleta | Aug. 11–13 | Aug. 18–20 |
| H | Bolívar vs São Paulo | Aug. 11–13 | Aug. 18–20 |
| D | Vasco da Gama vs Olimpia | Aug. 11–13 | Aug. 18–20 |
| E | Santa Fe vs River Plate | Aug. 11–13 | Aug. 18–20 |
| B | Red Bull Bragantino vs Atlético Mineiro | Aug. 11–13 | Aug. 18–20 |
| G | Santos vs Macará | Aug. 11–13 | Aug. 18–20 |
| C | Cienciano vs Botafogo | Aug. 11–13 | Aug. 18–20 |
| F | Tigre vs Montevideo City Torque | Aug. 11–13 | Aug. 18–20 |
The eight winners will advance to the quarterfinals, set to be played in September.
- Quarterfinal 1: Winner A vs Winner H
- Quarterfinal 2: Winner D vs Winner E
- Quarterfinal 3: Winner B vs Winner G
- Quarterfinal 4: Winner C vs Winner F
