The 2023 Copa Libertadores group stage was played from 4 April to 29 June 2023.[1] [2] A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the final stages of the 2023 Copa Libertadores.[3]
The draw for the group stage was held on 27 March 2023, 20:00 PYT (UTC−4), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[4] [5]
Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL Clubs ranking as of 9 December 2022 (shown in parentheses),[6] taking into account the following three factors:[7]
For the group stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups (Groups A–H) of four containing a team from each of the four pots. The defending champions Flamengo were directly assigned as the top seed of Group A (position A1). The remaining teams were distributed into four pots according to their CONMEBOL Clubs ranking. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group, excluding the four winners of the third stage, which were allocated to Pot 4 and could be drawn into the same group with another team from the same association.
The following were the four winners of the third stage of qualifying which joined the 28 direct entrants in the group stage.
| Match | Third stage winners | |
|---|---|---|
| G1 | Atlético Mineiro | |
| G2 | Sporting Cristal | |
| G3 | Cerro Porteño | |
| G4 | Independiente Medellín |
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams were ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Away goals scored; 5. CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 2.4.2).[3]
The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16 of the final stages. The third-placed teams of each group entered the knockout round play-offs of the 2023 Copa Sudamericana.
The schedule of each matchday was as follows (Regulations Article 2.2.2).[3] [8] [2] [9]
| Matchday | Dates | Matches | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | 4–6 April 2023 | Team 4 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 1 | |
| Matchday 2 | 18–20 April 2023 | Team 2 vs. Team 3, Team 1 vs. Team 4 | |
| Matchday 3 | 2–4 May 2023 | Team 2 vs. Team 1, Team 4 vs. Team 3 | |
| Matchday 4 | 23–25 May 2023 | Team 3 vs. Team 2, Team 4 vs. Team 1 | |
| Matchday 5 | 6–8 June 2023 | Team 1 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 4 | |
| Matchday 6 | 27–29 June 2023 | Team 1 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 4 |
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