The 2018 Copa Libertadores qualifying stages were played from 22 January to 22 February 2018.[1] A total of 19 teams competed in the qualifying stages to decide four of the 32 places in the group stage of the 2018 Copa Libertadores.[2]
The draw for the qualifying stages
Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL ranking of the Copa Libertadores (shown in parentheses), taking into account of the following three factors:[5]
For the first stage, the six teams were drawn into three ties (E1–E3), with the seeded teams hosting the second leg.[6]
| +First stage draw | ||||
| Seeded | Unseeded | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | valign=top |
For the second stage, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (C1–C8), with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, excluding the winners of the first stage, which were unseeded and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.[6]
| +Second stage draw | ||||
| Seeded | Unseeded | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | valign=top |
For the third stage, no draw was made, and the eight teams were allocated into the following four ties (G1–G4), with the second stage winners with the higher CONMEBOL ranking hosting the second leg.[7] As the identity of the winners of the second stage was not known at the time of the draw, they could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.[6]
In the qualifying stages, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was used. If still tied, extra time was not played, and a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 29).[2]
The qualifying stages were structured as follows:
The bracket was decided based on the first stage draw and second stage draw, which were held on 20 December 2017.[4]
The first legs were played on 22 January, and the second legs were played on 26 January 2018.[8] [9] |}
----Olimpia won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second stage (Match C5).
----Tied 1–1 on aggregate, Deportivo Táchira won on away goals and advanced to the second stage (Match C1).
----Tied 3–3 on aggregate, Oriente Petrolero won on away goals and advanced to the second stage (Match C3).
The first legs were played on 30–31 January and 1 February, and the second legs were played on 6–8 February 2018.[8] [9] |}
----Santa Fe won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G1).
----Nacional won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G2).
----Jorge Wilstermann won 4–3 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G3).
----Guaraní won 6–1 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G4).
----Junior won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G4).
----Vasco da Gama won 6–0 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G3).
----Tied 3–3 on aggregate, Banfield won on away goals and advanced to the third stage (Match G2).
----Santiago Wanderers won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G1).
The first legs were played on 13–15 February, and the second legs were played on 20–22 February 2018.[8] [9] [10] [11] |}
----Santa Fe won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the group stage (Group D).
----Nacional won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the group stage (Group F).
----Tied 4–4 on aggregate, Vasco da Gama won on penalties and advanced to the group stage (Group E).
----Junior won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the group stage (Group H).
The two best teams eliminated in the third stage entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage. Only matches in the third stage were considered for the ranking of teams.