CONMEBOL: Which club and country has the most continental titles?
In other posts I analyzed the OFC, AFC, CAF and CONCACAF.
Let's now analyze CONMEBOL.
Interamerican Cup
The Interamerican Cup, also known as the Copa Interamericana, was an annual football club competition between a team from North America (CONCACAF) and one from South America (CONMEBOL).
Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 due to the increasing participation of CONCACAF clubs, particularly from Mexico, in CONMEBOL competitions.
The competition was meant to feature the winners of the CONCACAF Champions Cup and Copa Libertadores, though the participants sometimes differed.
It typically consisted of two legs, with a playoff or penalty kicks as needed. However, many editions went unheld. Of the 18 editions, 4 were contested over multiple matches at one venue, 2 were single matches, and 2 had participants who did not qualify.
The competition was often held one or two years after qualification, due to its lack of financial incentives and low relevance.
This competition had a total of 18 editions.
The biggest winner of this competition is Independiente from Argentina with 3 titles and the second clubs with more titles are Nacional (Uruguay), América (Mexico) and Atlético Nacional (Colombia) with 2 titles.
Mercosur Cup
The Mercosur Cup was a football tournament held from 1998 to 2001 that featured top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile.
It was established by CONMEBOL to generate television revenue for the participating teams, but eventually became, along with the Copa Merconorte, a replacement for the CONMEBOL Cup. These two tournaments were replaced in 2002 by the Copa Sudamericana.
This competition had a total of 4 editions.
In this competition, there is no club that stands out in terms of number of titles as in the 4 existing editions, different clubs always win it.
Merconorte Cup
The Merconorte Cup was a football tournament organized by CONMEBOL from 1998 to 2001 featuring teams from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Starting in 2000, clubs from the CONCACAF confederation, including Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States, were also invited. It ran concurrently with the Copa Mercosur, which was based on the Mercosur economic agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The tournament did not have a direct qualification process, as the goal was to generate profits through television contracts by inviting the most marketable clubs from each country. Thus, participation was based on individual club invitations.
This competition had a total of 4 editions.
In this competition, the club with the most titles is Atlético Nacional from Colombia with 2 titles won, but the most impressive fact is that all editions have been won by Colombian clubs.
Conmebol Masters Cup
The CONMEBOL Masters Cup was a football club tournament contested by the 4 previous champions of the Copa CONMEBOL at that time. The cup was among the many inter-South American club competitions organized by CONMEBOL.
This competition only had one edition, which was won by São Paulo from Brazil.
Sudamericano Champions
The South American Championship of Champions was a pioneering football competition held in Santiago, Chile in 1948. It was the first continental-wide football tournament to be held in South America and was hosted by Chilean club Colo-Colo with support from the then president of CONMEBOL, Luis Valenzuela. The tournament took place from February 11th to March 17th.
This competition is regarded as the forerunner to the Copa Libertadores and is considered, along with the Copa Aldao, as a significant stepping stone in its creation.
The only winner of this competition was Vasco da Gama from Brazil.
SuperCup Libertadores
The SuperCup Libertadores, also known by various names such as Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange, or simply Supercopa, was a yearly football club competition that featured the past champions of the Copa Libertadores.
The tournament was one of the many club competitions held in South America, organized by CONMEBOL.
This competition had a total of 10 editions.
There are two clubs that have won this competition twice, they are Independiente (Argentina) and Cruzeiro (Brazil).
The remaining 6 winners won the competition once.
Sudamericana Cup
The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as the Copa Sudamericana, is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American football and was established in 2002, replacing the separate tournaments Copa Merconorte and Copa Mercosur. Between 2004 and 2008, clubs from the CONCACAF confederation were also invited to participate. The competition is a pure elimination tournament with the number of rounds and teams varying from year to year.
The winner of the Copa Sudamericana becomes eligible to play in the Recopa Sudamericana, the next edition of the Copa Libertadores, which is South America's premier club competition, and also the J.League Cup/Copa Sudamericana Championship. It can be considered as a merger of the former tournaments such as the Copa CONMEBOL, Copa Mercosur, and Copa Merconorte.
So far, the clubs that have won this competition the most times are Independiente of Argentina, Boca Juniors of Argentina, Atlético Paranaense of Brazil, and Independiente del Valle of Ecuador.
Sudamericana Super Cup
The Libertadores Super Cup, also known as the Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange, or simply Supercopa, was an annual football club competition contested by the previous winners of the Copa Libertadores.
This tournament was one of the many South American club competitions organized by CONMEBOL.
The club with the most titles in this competition is Boca Juniors from Argentina with 4 titles won. The second most successful winner so far is River Plate from Argentina with 3 titles won.
Libertadores Cup
The CONMEBOL Libertadores Cup, known as America's Liberators Cup, is a yearly international club football competition run by CONMEBOL since 1960 and is the highest level of competition in South American club football.
Initially, only champions of South American leagues participated, but in 1966 runners-up joined.
Mexican teams were invited in 1998 and regularly contested until 2016.
The tournament was expanded to 32 teams in 2000 and today a minimum of 4 clubs per country compete, with Argentina and Brazil having the most representation. The tournament format includes a group stage with 8 groups of 4 teams, followed by knockout stages ending in a final in November.
The winner is eligible to play in the FIFA Club World Cup and the Recopa Sudamericana.
The club with the most titles collected in this competition is Independiente of Argentina with 7 titles won. The second club with the most titles is Boca Juniors of Argentina with 6 titles, and in third place we have Peñarol of Uruguay.
Total Titles (Clubs and Countries)
Clubs
In terms of clubs, we can see on the chart that Independiente of Argentina is the club with the most titles in the continental competitions having a total of 13.
The second club with the most continental titles is Boca Juniors of Argentina that has 12 continental titles in their records.
Lastly, the third club with the most titles is River Plate with 9 titles won.
Countries
In terms of countries that have more continental titles, as we can see, this confederation is led by practically only two countries, Brazil and Argentina, as both have a total of 105 titles.
Argentina is in first place with 58 continental titles won by its clubs and Brazil has 47 titles.