The Copa Mercosur (, , "Mercosur Cup") was a football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by the traditional top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile.
The competition was created by CONMEBOL to generate TV money to the participating teams, but it went beyond and ended up, together with the Copa Merconorte, as natural replacements to the Supercopa Libertadores.
Three of the four editions were won by Brazilian clubs, and one by an Argentine club. No team won two editions of this tournament, and therefore Palmeiras, Flamengo, Vasco da Gama (all three from Brazil), and San Lorenzo (from Argentina) ended up as the biggest winners of the competition with one title each.
Both the Copa Merconorte and the Copa Mercosur were discontinued after the 2001 edition. A football competition to be called the Copa Pan-Americana would have replaced these two competitions for the 2002 season featuring clubs from both CONMEBOL and CONCACAF. That competition was first postponed, with plans to be played in 2003, then eventually cancelled. The Copa Pan-Americana would ultimately not come to fruition and that left the Copa Sudamericana as the successor of the Copa Merconorte and the Copa Mercosur. Instead, a CONMEBOL competition called the Copa Sudamericana was created and had its first edition in 2002, and that competition is still played to this day.
Format Twenty teams played in the tournament. Their participation was based on invitation and nt sporting merit. The teams were divided in five groups of four teams each and the matches were played in two legs. The group winners and the best three runners-up qualified for the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals, the semifinals were played in two legs. In 1998 and 2000 the finals were played in three legs. In 1999 and 2001 the finals were played in two legs.
Records and statistics List of finals
Year Winners1st.leg2nd.leg Runners-up Venue (1st leg) City (1st leg) Venue (2nd leg) City (2nd leg) Venue (Playoff) City (Playoff) 1998 Palmeiras Cruzeiro Mineirão Belo Horizonte Palestra Itália São Paulo Palestra Itália São Paulo 1999 Flamengo Palmeiras Maracanã Rio de Janeiro Palestra Itália São Paulo 2000 Vasco da Gama Palmeiras São Januário Rio de Janeiro Palestra Itália São Paulo Palestra Itália São Paulo 2001 San Lorenzo Flamengo Maracanã Rio de Janeiro Pedro Bidegain Buenos Aires
Performances by club
+Performance in the Copa Mercosur by clubClubTitlesRunners-upSeasons wonSeasons runner-up Palmeiras1219981999, 2000 Flamengo1119992001 San Lorenzo102001 Vasco da Gama102000 Cruzeiro011998
Performances by nation NationWinnerRunners-UpWinning ClubsRunners-Up34Flamengo (1); Palmeiras (1); Vasco da Gama (1) Palmeiras (2); Flamengo (1); Cruzeiro (1)10San Lorenzo (1)
Participants (1998–2001)
Boca Juniors San Lorenzo Independiente Racing River Plate Vélez Sarsfield Rosario Central Talleres de Córdoba Cruzeiro Flamengo Grêmio Corinthians São Paulo Vasco da Gama Atlético Mineiro Palmeiras Colo-Colo Universidad Católica Universidad de Chile Olimpia Cerro Porteño Nacional Peñarol
Berths per season (1998–2001) Brazil: 7 Argentina: 6 Chile: 3 Paraguay: 2 Uruguay: 2
Top scorers
YearPlayer (team)Goals1998 Alex Fábio Júnior 61999 Romário 82000 Romário 112001 Bernardo Romeo 10
See also Torneio Mercosul Copa Merconorte Supercopa Libertadores Copa CONMEBOL
References
Copa Mercosur at RSSSF