Uruguay’s historic Peñarol have finally won a Copa Libertadores trophy. Obviously, we’re not talking about the much anticipated professional club competition, which the “Carboneros” won for the last time – out of a total of five – in 1987. The aurinegra squad competed in the 6th edition of the Copa Libertadores of America under-20 from February 5th to February 20th in Quito, Ecuador’s capital.
In the grand final, the Uruguayan team defeated Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle to win the championship. The game concluded 1-1 in regulation time, and Peñarol won 4-3 on penalties. Internacional, the Brazilian team that competed in the competition, could not make it out of the group stage.
Due of the Covid-19 epidemic, the public were unable to attend any of the competition’s matches, including the grand final, which was hosted at the Rodrigo Paz Delgado stadium.
The Libertadores under-20 2022 tournament included three groups of four teams, with the champion of each group and the best overall runner-up progressing to the semifinals of the continent’s most significant competition.
Brazil were represented by Internacional, the winners of the Brazilian Supercup in 2021. The gaucho club, like Peñarol, were in the “lantern” of group B after accumulating just one point in three games – two losses and a tie.
Champions and Inter campaigns
See how the Uruguayan champion Peñarol and the Brazilian side Internacional fared in the Copa Libertadores da América Sub-20 in 2022.
Peñarol
| Game no. | Match | Data | Phase |
| 1 | Peñarol 2-0 Millonarios (COL) | February 6th | groups |
| 2 | Peñarol 2-0 LDU (EQU) | February 9th | groups |
| 3 | Peñarol 1-1 Internacional | February 12th | groups |
| 4 | Peñarol 2-1 Caracas (VEN) | February 17th | Semifinal |
| 5 | Peñarol 1-1 (4-3 p.) Del Valle (EQU) | February 20th | Final |
Internacional
| Game no. | Match | Data | Phase |
| 1 | Internacional 0-1 LDU (EQU) | February 6th | groups |
| 2 | Internacional 0-1 Millonarios (COL) | February 9th | groups |
| 3 | Internacional 1-1 Peñarol | February 12th | groups |
Brazilian representatives in other years
Sao Paulo won the Copa Libertadores under-20 competition in 2016, becoming the first Brazilian club to accomplish so. Since the tournament’s start in 2011, see which teams have represented Brazil in each of the tournament’s editions. In several years, there was no competition due to financial troubles at Conmebol, the tournament’s organizer (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019). The discontinuation in 2021 was based on the Covid-19 outbreak.
- 2011: Flamengo (2011 São Paulo Football Jr. Cup champion);
- 2012: Corinthians (champion of the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Jr. 2012) and América-MG (champion of the Brasileirão under-20 2012);
- 2016: São Paulo (2015 Copa do Brasil under-20 champion);
- 2018: São Paulo (2016 Libertadores under-20 champion) and Cruzeiro (2017 Brazilian Sub-20 Supercup champion);
- 2020: Flamengo (2019 Brazilian under-20 Supercup champion);
- 2022: Internacional (2021 Brazilian Under-20 Supercup champion).
São Paulo the only Brazilian champion
After beating Liverpool of Uruguay 1-0 in the final, Sao Paulo became the first Brazilian winner of the Libertadores Sub-20 in 2016. Previously, the Morumbi club had to face Argentine Lans (Argentina) in the semifinals after overcoming Libertad (Paraguay), Del Valle (Ecuador), and Melgar (Peru) in the group round. The tournament was conducted in Paraguay that year.
At the time, Luiz Arajo was the most famous member of the Sao Paulo tricolor. With 5 goals, he was the competition’s leading scorer. In the same year, the player was promoted to the professional squad and transferred to Lille, France, for R$38 million in 2017. He has been a member of Atlanta United in the United States since 2021.
About Libertadores Sub-20
The South American Football Confederation organizes the Copa Libertadores da América in the U-20 level, same as it does in professional football (CONMEBOL). Since 2011, the competition has had six editions and no big champion has emerged, since all winning clubs have only won once.
Universitario from Peru (2011), River Plate from Argentina (2012), Sao Paulo (2016), Nacional from Uruguay (2018), Independiente del Valle from Ecuador (2020), and Peñarol from Uruguay (2022) are the winners of the most major championship in South American football, including the youth divisions.
Corinthians and Flamengo both enjoyed successful seasons in the competition, reaching the semifinals in 2012 and 2020, respectively. Sao Paulo lost in the game that was worth a berth in the final in 2018, in addition to winning the championship in 2016.
