CONMEBOL

The South American Football Confederation is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana), and it is one of FIFA’s six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Paraguay, near Asunción. CONMEBOL is responsible for the organization and governance of South American football’s major international tournaments. With 10 member football associations, it has the fewest members of all the confederations in FIFA.

The World Cup qualifiers of CONMEBOL have been described as the “toughest qualifiers in the world” for their simple round-robin system, entry of some of the top national teams in the world, leveling of the weaker national teams, climate conditions, geographic conditions, strong home stands, and passionate supporters.

With ten member nations, CONMEBOL is the smallest and the only fully continental land-based FIFA confederation (no insular countries or associates from different continents).

The main competition for men’s national teams is the Copa América. CONMEBOL also runs national competitions at Under-20, Under-17 and Under-15 levels. For women’s national teams, CONMEBOL operates the Copa América Femenina for senior national sides, as well as Under-20 and Under-17 championships.

CONMEBOL also runs the two main club competitions in South America: the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana that was launched by CONMEBOL as an indirect successor to the Supercopa Libertadores. In women’s football, CONMEBOL also conducts the Copa Libertadores Femenina for club teams.

The Recopa Sudamericana pits the past year’s winners of the Copa Libertadores against the winners of the Copa Sudamericana (previously the winners of the Supercopa Libertadores).

The Intercontinental Cup was jointly organised with UEFA between the Copa Libertadores and the UEFA Champions League winners.