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

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! rowspan=2 style= "width:;" |

! Year

! Winners

! width= |1st.<br>leg

! width= |2nd.<br>leg

! width= |

! Runners-up

! width=| Venue <br>(1st leg)

! width=| City <br>(1st leg)

! width=| Venue <br>(2nd leg)

! width=| City <br>(2nd leg)

! width=| Venue <br>(Playoff)

! width=| City <br>(Playoff)

|-

| || 1998 || Palmeiras || || || style="background-color:#d0f0c0"| || 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 || || || style="background-color:#d0f0c0"||| Palmeiras || São Januário || Rio de Janeiro|| Palestra Itália || São Paulo || Palestra Itália || São Paulo

|-

| || 2001 || San Lorenzo || || || bgcolor=#BAF5FA| || Flamengo || Maracanã || Rio de Janeiro || Pedro Bidegain || Buenos Aires|| ||

|}

Performances by club

right|thumb|The trophy which was awarded to the champions of the competition.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

!scope=col|Club

!scope=col|Titles

!scope=col|Runners-up

!scope=col|Seasons won

!scope=col|Seasons runner-up

|-

!scope=row| Palmeiras

|align=center|1||align=center|2||1998||1999, 2000

|-

!scope=row| Flamengo

|align=center|1||align=center|1||1999||2001

|-

!scope=row| San Lorenzo

|align=center|1||align=center|0||2001||

|-

!scope=row| Vasco da Gama

|align=center|1||align=center|0||2000||

|-

!scope=row| Cruzeiro

|align=center|0||align=center|1||||1998

|-

|}

Performances by nation

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"

|-

!width=6%|Nation

!width=1%|Winner

!width=1%|Runners-Up

!class="unsortable" width=20%|Winning Clubs

!class="unsortable" width=20%|Runners-Up

|-

!scope=row|

|3||4||Flamengo (1); Palmeiras (1); Vasco da Gama (1) || Palmeiras (2); Flamengo (1); Cruzeiro (1)

|-

!scope=row|

|1||0||San 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

{| class="wikitable"

!Year

!Player (team)

!Goals

|-

|1998

| Alex <br> Fábio Júnior

|align="center"|6

|-

|1999

| Romário

|align="center"|8

|-

|2000

| Romário

|align="center"|11

|-

|2001

| Bernardo Romeo

|align="center"|10

|}

See also

  • Torneio Mercosul
  • Copa Merconorte
  • Supercopa Libertadores
  • Copa CONMEBOL

References

  • Copa Mercosur at RSSSF