The time is coming! The Copa Sudamericana is about to start! This football tournament is a great opportunity for teams from different countries in South America to fight for the much-desired title of the season.
Although the first phase does not have Brazilian teams, fans of the sport can expect a lot of rivalry and quality on the pitch. If you're interested in keeping up with the games, keep reading here at Most Curious to learn how to watch and understand how the tournament works.
How to watch the first phase of the tournament on TV?
The Copa Sudamericana games will be broadcast on television, both on pay TV and open TV. The ESPN channel holds the rights to broadcast the competition from the preliminary phase to the grand finale of the season, allowing only fans who have the station in their pay-TV operators to watch the first phase games.
The SBT channel, on the other hand, acquired the rights to the secondary competition of Conmebol, after being surprised by buying them from Libertadores in the previous season. The broadcaster will show Sudamericana from the group stage to the final, focusing on the games of the Brazilian teams. However, as the first phase does not have Brazilian teams, SBT will not broadcast these games.
How to watch the 2023 Sudamericana live online
Fans can watch Copa Sudamericana games not only on TV, but also on the internet. There are several streaming platforms available for broadcasting football matches. The Star+ streaming service shows the games live to its subscribers throughout Brazil, according to the competition schedule. To access the games, fans can visit the platform's website (www.starplus.com) or download the corresponding application on your mobile devices.
Another streaming platform that owns the rights to broadcast the first phase of the competition is Paramount +. However, the service is only available to subscribers and can be accessed through the platform's website (www.paramountplus.com/br) or mobile apps.
Finally, the games shown by SBT can also be watched for free on the broadcaster's website (www.sbt.com.br). To do so, simply access the company's portal, click on the “LIVE” option written in white and red and press play on the video that appears in the middle of the screen.
How does the Copa Sudamericana work?
Thirty-two teams from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela compete in the first phase of the Copa Sudamericana, football's secondary competition. Organized by Conmebol, the tournament begins with the preliminary phase – first phase – played in a single match, where the sixteen winners advance to the group phase.
The group stage comprises the 12 teams from Brazil and Argentina, in addition to the 16 preliminary round winners in the competition. The group stage draw will determine the eight groups of four each. There will be six rounds, where the casts face each other twice.
Only the leaders of each group advance to the round of 16. In the round of 16, the group stage qualifiers will face the teams that finish in third place in the Libertadores groups. For the Conmebol draw, they will be placed in pot 1 and pot 2 respectively. From there, they advance to the quarterfinals, semifinals and final.
With the exception of the final, all finals matches are played on a home-and-away basis.