Buenos Aires to host 2024 Copa Libertadores final

The capital of Argentina, the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA), will host the Copa Libertadores final in 2024, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has announced and the Confederation of South American Football (CONMEBOL) has confirmed.

Argentina will host the Copa Libertadores final in 2024, the AFA and CONMEBOL have confirmed in recent hours. Although the stadium that will host the final in November has yet to be announced, one of the most likely candidates is the Más Monumental, home of Club Atlético River Plate, which has a capacity of over 80,000.

The Mas Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Stadium is the main candidate to host the final. GETTY IMAGES

"The lack of confirmation is due to speculation about ticket sales and those who have reached the final stage," a source told Inside The Games. "It's official: Buenos Aires will host the Copa @Libertadores final in 2024. What a pleasure to welcome you to our country @CONMEBOL!" AFA posted on its X (formerly Twitter) account.

Later in the day, South American football's governing body, the second largest in the world after UEFA, announced through its president Alejandro Domínguez that Buenos Aires had been confirmed as the venue for the final of the continent's premier club competition. 

Domínguez said that the choice of the Argentine capital was "recognition of the good moment for Argentine football and the excellent work of the AFA". "Eternal glory will be defined in Buenos Aires," he concluded in his X (formerly Twitter) message.

47 clubs are competing in this year's edition of the Copa Libertadores, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Fluminense, who beat Boca Juniors 2-1 in the final at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The tournament, the second most important after the UEFA Champions League, features eight Brazilian teams (seven from qualifying plus the reigning champions) and six from South America's other powerhouse, Argentina. Brazil and Argentina are the two countries with the most representatives in the competition. Brazil has (seven allocated places plus the reigning Libertadores champions) and Argentina six. The group stage (eight groups of four teams) begins on 2 April and concludes on 30 May.

La Bombonera, another stadium that could host the Copa Libertadores final in Buenos Aires. GETTY IMAGES

This will be the sixth edition of a single Libertadores final and the first to be held in Argentina, with the 2019 edition taking place at the Monumental Stadium in Lima, Peru (Flamengo beat River Plate) and the 2020 edition at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro (Palmeiras beat Santos), in 2021 at the Centenario in Montevideo (Palmeiras beat Flamengo), in 2022 at the Monumental in Guayaquil, Ecuador (Flamengo defeated Athletico Paranaense), and most recently at the Maracanã with Fluminense and Boca Juniors.

The only Argentine venue to host a final was the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium in Córdoba, which hosted the decisive matches of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana (Defensa y Justicia defeated Lanús) and 2022 Copa Sudamericana (Independiente del Valle defeated São Paulo). Among the stadiums pre-selected by CONMEBOL, there are four candidates: the Monumental and La Bombonera (Boca Juniors), the Nuevo Gasómetro of San Lorenzo (47,964) and the José Amalfitani of Vélez (49,540).

Confirming the city, but not the stadium, gives CONMEBOL the chance to manoeuvre if necessary. It's worth remembering what happened last year when the Sudamericana final, the second most important in the Americas (Liga de Quito beat Fortaleza on penalties), was supposed to be played at the Centenario in Montevideo but ended up in Maldonado, in a stadium with a capacity of just over 30,000.