Copa Libertadores Update, River Plate Qualify For 2025 Club World Cup

It has been a big week in South America as the top teams from the continent have competed in Matchday 5 of the Copa Libertadores group stage. The biggest news of all is that River Plate have secured their place at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup but what else has been going on?

Group A

Fluminense won at home to Cerro Porteño which confirmed their place at the summit of Group A. The Rio side won 2-1 whilst Alianza Lima and Colo-Colo played out a heated 1-1 draw. With one game to go Lima, Colo-Colo and Cerro Porteño are all separated by just one point and are level on goal difference.

Group B

Talleres from Argentina defeated Cobresal to stay on top of Group B, whilst São Paulo drew at home to Barcelona of Ecuador to stay in second position. This group is as good as done with seven points separating São Paulo in second with Barcelona in third.

Group C

In Group C this week the Strongest stuffed Huachipato 4-0 to move top of the group. However, as Brazil has been hit with devastating floods this group has been thrown into doubt. Grêmio haven’t played since the disaster struck, which means their opponents have missed games too. Estudiantes as well as the two aforementioned sides will have to wait and see how CONMEBOL decides to manage this situation, and if they can complete all of the group games as planned.

Group D

Junior of Barranquilla, Colombia and Botafogo from Rio, Brazil have both confirmed safe passage to the next round of the tournament in this group. Both sides secured vital 1-0 away victories this week meaning their respective opponents Universitario and LDU will scrap with each other for an exit route to the Copa Sudamericana.

Group E

Bolivar have taken group E by storm, but they were taught a lesson by Flamengo in the Maracana this week. The Brazilian Serie A heavyweights defeated their Bolivian visitors 4-0 to move behind them into second place with one game to play. Yet, Palestino of Chile salvaged a late draw against Millonarios in Colombia to stay level on points with Flamengo. It’s all to play for here.

Group F

Palmeiras beat Independiente del Valle this week to move to five games unbeaten in the group, with just one draw. The São Paulo based side are through as group winners. They host San Loreno in the final game, who are almost through with them. The Argentinian side are three points above Independiente del Valle and Liverpool of Uruguay who will both battle to catch them on the final day of the group stage.

Group G

Clube Atlético Mineiro of Brazil are flying in this group. They have secured first place and with six goal contributions Paulinho has the most of anybody so far in this tournament. Peñarol in second and Rosario Central in third will meet for a showdown in Matchday 6 with just 2 points separating the sides, with both still planning on claiming second place in this group.

Group H

Last but not least River Plate and Nacional of Uruguay are the teams going through in Group H. River Plate defeated Libertad of Paraguay 2-0 at home thanks to two Miguel Borja strikes and with that victory have confirmed their place at what will be an historic 2025 Club World Cup in the U.S.A. It’s also worth noting that the Estadio Monumental, home of River Plate, will host the Copa Libertadores Final this year.

Nacional will come second in this group and they still have a chance of qualifying for that rather big tournament in 2025 themselves, but they will need to pick up more wins and go deeper into this year’s Libertadores to do so, as they still trail the likes of Boca Juniors on the coefficient points leaderboard. Stay tuned.