Copa Libertadores Femenina · History

Corinthians are the most successful club in the CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina, with six titles: 2017 (as Audax/Corinthians), 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. São José follow with three (2011, 2013 and 2014), while Santos and Ferroviária have two each. Colo-Colo, Sportivo Limpeño, Atlético Huila, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro have won it once. By country, Brazilian clubs took 15 of the 18 editions played between 2009 and 2026, with Chile, Paraguay and Colombia claiming one apiece. It is CONMEBOL’s continental club competition for women’s football, with each edition staged at a single host venue.

Origins and early editions

Its forerunner was the 2000 South American Interclub Championship, held in Peru and won by Sporting Cristal. The Libertadores Femenina proper was launched in 2009 in Santos and Guarujá, in São Paulo state, with ten teams, one from each member association, split into two groups of five. Santos won that first final 9-0 against Universidad Autónoma of Paraguay, and Cristiane finished as top scorer with 15 goals, the highest tally in a single edition. In 2010 Santos retained the trophy with a 1-0 win over Chile’s Everton.

The twelve-team era

From 2011 the tournament expanded to twelve clubs in three groups of four. São José won that year against Colo-Colo and lifted the trophy again in 2013, against Colombia’s Formas Íntimas, and in 2014, against Caracas of Venezuela. In between, in 2012, Colo-Colo became the first non-Brazilian champions by beating Foz Cataratas on penalties. In 2015 the competition left Brazil for the first time: it was played in Medellín and won by Ferroviária, once more against Colo-Colo. A year later, in Uruguay, Paraguay’s Sportivo Limpeño beat Estudiantes de Guárico 2-1. In 2017, in Paraguay, Audax/Corinthians edged Colo-Colo on penalties, the Chilean side’s third lost final.

Huila and the move to sixteen teams

The 2018 edition, played in Brazil, produced Colombia’s only title: Atlético Huila drew 1-1 with Santos and won the shootout 5-3. In 2019 the field grew to sixteen teams, with four groups followed by an eight-team knockout stage, and CONMEBOL began requiring clubs in the men’s Libertadores to field a women’s team. The final, in Ecuador, went to Corinthians, 2-0 against Ferroviária. The 2020 edition, hosted by Argentina, held its group stage in March 2021 and was won by Ferroviária, 2-1 against América de Cali. In that group stage Corinthians recorded the competition’s biggest win, 16-0 against Ecuador’s El Nacional.

The Corinthians run

Corinthians won again in Paraguay in 2021, beating Independiente Santa Fe 2-0. In 2022, in Ecuador, Palmeiras claimed their first title with a 4-1 win over Boca Juniors, the first Argentine finalist. From 2023 came three straight Corinthians titles: 1-0 against Palmeiras in Colombia in 2023, 2-0 against Santa Fe in Paraguay in 2024 and, in Argentina in 2025, a 0-0 draw with Deportivo Cali settled 5-3 on penalties. Gabi Zanotti was top scorer in 2024, with eight goals, and in 2025, with five.

Colombian clubs

Besides Huila’s 2018 title, Colombian clubs have lost five finals: Formas Íntimas in 2013, América de Cali in 2020, Independiente Santa Fe in 2021 and 2024, and Deportivo Cali in 2025. Medellín hosted the 2015 edition and the country staged the tournament again in 2023.

The 2026 final in Quito

The 2026 edition was held in Ecuador, and its final, on 31 October at the Rodrigo Paz Delgado stadium in Quito, pitted Corinthians against Cruzeiro, who were making their debut in the competition. Vic Albuquerque, Mariana Zamorano and Byanca Brasil shared that year’s top scorer award with six goals each. In the final, Corinthians led 3-0, but Cruzeiro levelled at 4-4 through a goal from Letícia Ferreira in the 90+1st minute and won the club’s first title by taking the shootout 5-4.