2026 Copa Sudamericana first stage

In the first stage, each tie was played on a single-leg basis, with the winner being decided in a penalty shoot-out in case of a draw after 90 minutes.

The 16 winners of the first stage advanced to the group stage to join the 12 teams directly qualified for that stage (six from Argentina and six from Brazil), and four teams transferred from the Copa Libertadores (the four teams eliminated in the third stage of qualifying).

Matches were played on 3–5 March 2026.^[5][6][7]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Independiente Petrolero	0–0 (3–2 p)	Guabirá
Blooming	3–0	San Antonio Bulo Bulo
Universidad de Chile	1–2	Palestino
Cobresal	1–1 (2–3 p)	Audax Italiano
Atlético Nacional	1–3	Millonarios
América de Cali	2–1	Atlético Bucaramanga
Deportivo Cuenca	3–0	Libertad
Orense	0–1	Macará
Nacional	1–1 (4–5 p)	Recoleta
Sportivo Trinidense	0–1	Olimpia
Alianza Atlético	2–0	Deportivo Garcilaso
Cienciano	1–1 (5–4 p)	Melgar
Montevideo City Torque	1–0	Defensor Sporting
Boston River	1–0	Racing
Academia Puerto Cabello	0–0 (5–3 p)	Monagas
Caracas	0–0 (4–3 p)	Metropolitanos

3 March 2026 (2026-03-03)

18:00 UTC−4

Independiente Petrolero	0–0	Guabirá
	Report
Penalties
J. Cristaldo G. Cristaldo Torres Navarro	3–2	Rafinha Maciel Robles Ferrufino Peredo

Estadio Olímpico Patria, Sucre

Referee: Álex Cajas (Ecuador)

Independiente Petrolero advanced to the group stage (BOL 1).

4 March 2026 (2026-03-04)

18:00 UTC−4

Blooming	3–0	San Antonio Bulo Bulo
Garcés 65' Vásquez 83' Hinojosa 86'	Report

Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Referee: Alexis Herrera (Venezuela)

Blooming advanced to the group stage (BOL 2).

4 March 2026 (2026-03-04)

21:30 UTC−3

Universidad de Chile	1–2	Palestino
Guerrero 90+4'	Report	Da Silva 85' Garguez 90+6'

Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago

Attendance: 0^{[note 1]}

Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)

Palestino advanced to the group stage (CHI 1).

3 March 2026 (2026-03-03)

21:30 UTC−3^{[note 2]}

Cobresal	1–1	Audax Italiano
Pino 85'	Report	Matus 45+1'
Penalties
Pino Frías Yanis Sandoval Nadruz	2–3	Collao Rojas Coelho Chiaverano

Estadio Zorros del Desierto, Calama^{[note 3]}

Referee: Andrés Rojas (Colombia)

Audax Italiano advanced to the group stage (CHI 2).

4 March 2026 (2026-03-04)

19:30 UTC−5

Atlético Nacional	1–3	Millonarios
Rodríguez 28'	Report	Contreras 21', 75' L. Castro 42' (pen.)

Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellín

Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)

Millonarios advanced to the group stage (COL 1).

5 March 2026 (2026-03-05)

19:30 UTC−5

América de Cali	2–1	Atlético Bucaramanga
Guzmán 45+3' (pen.) Palacios 55'	Report	Sambueza 23'

Estadio Pascual Guerrero, Cali

Referee: Facundo Tello (Argentina)

América de Cali advanced to the group stage (COL 2).

4 March 2026 (2026-03-04)

21:00 UTC−5

Deportivo Cuenca	3–0	Libertad
Díaz 22' Mosquera 67' Leguizamón 90+4'	Report

Estadio Alejandro Serrano Aguilar, Cuenca^{[note 4]}

Referee: Yael Falcón Pérez (Argentina)

Deportivo Cuenca advanced to the group stage (ECU 1).

5 March 2026 (2026-03-05)

21:00 UTC−5

Orense	0–1	Macará
	Report	Blanc 68'

Estadio 9 de Mayo, Machala

Referee: José Cabero (Chile)

Macará advanced to the group stage (ECU 2).

5 March 2026 (2026-03-05)

19:00 UTC−3

Nacional	1–1	Recoleta
Valdez 85'	Report	Parzajuk 45+4'
Penalties
Bailone Prieto Valdez H. Benítez Colmán Gaona Lugo	4–5	Garay Báez Espínola Ferreira Franco Piris

Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción^{[note 5]}

Referee: José Burgos (Uruguay)

Recoleta advanced to the group stage (PAR 1).

4 March 2026 (2026-03-04)

21:30 UTC−3

Sportivo Trinidense	0–1	Olimpia
	Report	Lezcano 35'

Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción^{[note 6]}

Referee: Piero Maza (Chile)

Olimpia advanced to the group stage (PAR 2).

3 March 2026 (2026-03-03)

21:00 UTC−5

Alianza Atlético	2–0	Deportivo Garcilaso
Flores 22' Coronel 90+8'	Report

Estadio Mansiche, Trujillo^{[note 7]}

Referee: Augusto Aragón (Ecuador)

Alianza Atlético advanced to the group stage (PER 1).

5 March 2026 (2026-03-05)

19:30 UTC−5

Cienciano	1–1	Melgar
Becerra 51'	Report	Ramos 72'
Penalties
Hohberg Succar Robles Souza Amondarain	5–4	Vidales Zegarra De Santis Alcántar Cuesta

Estadio Garcilaso, Cusco

Referee: Flavio de Souza (Brazil)

Cienciano advanced to the group stage (PER 2).

3 March 2026 (2026-03-03)

19:00 UTC−3

Montevideo City Torque	1–0	Defensor Sporting
Romero 47'	Report

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo^{[note 8]}

Referee: Carlos Benítez (Paraguay)

Montevideo City Torque advanced to the group stage (URU 1).

5 March 2026 (2026-03-05)

19:00 UTC−3

Boston River	1–0	Racing
Martínez 81'	Report

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo^{[note 9]}

Referee: Juan Gabriel Benítez (Paraguay)

Boston River advanced to the group stage (URU 2).

3 March 2026 (2026-03-03)

20:30 UTC−4

Academia Puerto Cabello	0–0	Monagas
	Report
Penalties
Pernía Contreras Hernández Bamba Castillo	5–3	Jaramillo Ossa Basante Peralta

Estadio Misael Delgado, Valencia^{[note 10]}

Referee: Gery Vargas (Bolivia)

Academia Puerto Cabello advanced to the group stage (VEN 1).

4 March 2026 (2026-03-04)

18:00 UTC−4

Caracas	0–0	Metropolitanos
	Report
Penalties
Maestre Márquez Mago Reinoso La Mantía	4–3	Miku Ortiz Ramírez Ayine Garcés

Estadio Olímpico de la UCV, Caracas

Referee: Carlos Betancur (Colombia)

Caracas advanced to the group stage (VEN 2).