CONMEBOL's 2025: A year in review
FIFA reflects on an unforgettable year in South America across World Cup qualifying, the Club World Cup and more.
Six nations secured their World Cup 2026 spots
CONMEBOL teams impress at Club World Cup
Estevao and Diaz among the stars who have shone for club and country
The football world never stops spinning, and it has been another epic and engrossing year in the South American game, with a host of clubs, national teams and players having particularly caught the eye. A sextet of CONMEBOL countries punched their tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2026™ over the course of the year, while Bolivia will hope to join them by prevailing at the FIFA Play-Off tournament, to be staged in March of next year.
Read on for an in-depth review of the continent's year in football.
Despite the increased number of places at the global extravaganza on offer (six automatic spots instead of the previous four), the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup™ were fiercely contested, with the battle for the last qualification positions going right down to the wire.
Title holders Argentina were the first team from the continent to confirm their presence at the showpiece on North American soil. While the pair of wins against Brazil and the success away to Uruguay in Montevideo were arguably their most important results of the campaign, Lionel Scaloni’s charges looked imperious throughout. The Albiceleste qualified in March, becoming the sixth side overall to bag their spot at FIFA’s flagship competition (after the three host nations, Japan and New Zealand), and eventually finished with 38 points out of a possible 54.
Although Brazil were the second South American team to qualify, their journey was far from all plain sailing. Indeed, the five-time world champions suffered several sobering defeats along the way, particularly on the road. The most chastening of their quintet of away losses was a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of old rivals Argentina in Buenos Aires in March 2025 that cost coach Dorival Junior his job. The new man in the dugout, Carlo Ancelotti, steadied the ship and secured passage to North America in his first international break at the helm courtesy of a goalless draw in Ecuador on 6 June and a 1-0 win at home to Paraguay five days later.
The Ecuadorians, for their part, were third over the line after a superb showing under Sebastian Beccacece, getting the job done on the same day as Brazil thanks to a scoreless stalemate away to Peru and proving themselves to be rock-solid during a campaign in which their net was breached just five times.
Colombia ensured that they would make up for missing out on Qatar 2022™ by cruising past Bolivia 3-0 at home on 4 September. A certain James Rodriguez, who lit up his debut World Cup in Brazil in 2014, turned back the clock to produce a vintage performance, including breaking the deadlock just after the half-hour mark with a sumptuous first-time finish from a Santiago Arias cutback. However, Los Cafeteros blew hot and cold, struggling for both form and results at various points.
Uruguay, on the other hand, raced out of the blocks under Marcelo Bielsa but later went off the boil. Nevertheless, La Celeste battled through, a 3-0 pummelling of Peru on the penultimate matchday serving as the clincher, with Rodrigo Aguirre, Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Federico Vinas on the scoresheet.
A mid-campaign coaching change, meanwhile, inspired Paraguay's qualification. After a difficult start under Daniel Garnero, Argentinian boss Gustavo Alfaro replaced him and helped them embark on a hugely impressive run which included victories over Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. They eventually qualified in sixth place and will compete in their first World Cup since 2010.
Last but not least, Bolivia will look to end a World Cup exodus stretching back to 1994 by navigating FIFA’s intercontinental play-off tournament. A nerve-racking 1-0 upset of Brazil on home turf on the final matchday, coupled with Colombia’s extraordinary 6-3 triumph away to Venezuela, proved enough to leapfrog La Vinotinto, who ran out of fizz when it mattered most.
Six South American teams competed at the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup™, where their passionate fans created incredible atmospheres at stadiums across the United States.
While River Plate and Boca Juniors suffered group-stage exits, the four Brazilian sides – Botafogo, Flamengo, Palmeiras and Fluminense – made waves at the competition, all making it through to the knockout phase.
Botafogo and Flamengo's journeys ended in the last 16, while Palmeiras reached the quarter-finals and Fluminense the semis. Both saw their memorable runs halted by eventual champions Chelsea.
Flamengo then went on to lift the Copa Libertadores trophy for the third time in six years (having also ruled the roost in 2019 and 2022), taking their total tally of titles to four and making them the most decorated Brazilian side in the event’s history.
Seasoned defender Danilo was the hero for Filipe Luis’s troops against domestic foes Palmeiras in the trophy game, securing the crown thanks to a bullet header from a corner. This was the seventh meeting between Brazilian counterparts in the Libertadores final overall and, remarkably, the fifth in the last six years. Equally fascinatingly, Brazil and Argentina are now neck and neck in terms of the number of titles won by their teams in the continent’s premier club competition, with 25 apiece.
Flamengo's Libertadores triumph also earned the Mengao a spot in the latter stages of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup™ in Qatar, where the they were victorious against Cruz Azul in the FIFA Derby of the Americas and against Pyramids in the FIFA Challenger Cup before succumbing to Paris Saint-Germain in a penalty shoot-out in the showpiece final.
Lanus, meanwhile, rekindled the glory days of 2013 to scoop their second Sudamericana crown by pipping yet more Brazilians – Atletico Mineiro – on penalties after a hard-fought 0-0 draw over 120 minutes. Following hot on the heels of the 2024 Libertadores final loss to Botafogo, this spelled further frustration for the Belo Horizonte outfit’s legendary attacker Hulk, whose search for South American silverware goes on.
Though his striking stats are nothing to be sniffed at – with seven goals, he finished only one adrift of Lionel Messi at the top of the scoring charts in the CONMEBOL World Cup 2026 qualifiers – Luis Diaz’s influence extends far beyond finding the net. A constant outlet and threat, the livewire is a linchpin up front for Nestor Lorenzo’s Colombia side, for whom he frequently dovetails to perfection with James Rodriguez.
Where his club pursuits are concerned, after leaving Liverpool for Bayern Munich in July, Diaz was quick to make his mark for the Bavarian giants, whose approach under Vincent Kompany – based on pressing high, playing on the front foot and attacking down the flanks – seems tailor-made for his qualities.
Belying his advancing years, Rodrigo De Paul remains a driving force for the Argentinian national team. Despite facing stiff competition from the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, Leandro Paredes, Franco Mastantuono and Nico Paz, the 31-year-old dynamo continues to excel for his country in the middle of the park thanks to his engine, football IQ and leadership.
At club level, meanwhile, swapping Atletico Madrid for Inter Miami was admittedly something of a risk, but it is a decision that has paid off handsomely for El Motorcito, who linked up with another evergreen Argentinian veteran, the remarkable Messi, with aplomb to help the Herons capture their first MLS Cup title.
With each passing season, the former Independiente del Valle starlet takes his game up another notch. Still only 24, Moises Caicedo is the heartbeat for both Ecuador and Chelsea. A mainstay in World Cup qualifying, where Beccacece’s side ultimately finished second, the midfield general was just as instrumental in Chelsea’s run to glory at the inaugural Club World Cup, capped by a 3-0 win over against PSG in the final.
The attacking prodigy impressed for Palmeiras during the first half of the year, hit the ground running after completing his long-awaited switch to Chelsea, and chalked up his first international goals during a string of dazzling displays for Brazil.
All in all, it will go down as an almost perfect year – in the circumstances – for the 18-year-old, who is one of the Seleção’s most exciting prospects for the present and future. Estevao gave Chelsea a mouth-watering glimpse of what to expect with his stellar performances at the Club World Cup, including bagging a stunning equaliser against his future employers in the quarter-finals. He admitted to being heartbroken following Palmeiras’s elimination, but has taken the move to Stamford Bridge and his burgeoning status in the global game in his stride.
An idol at Flamengo, the goalscoring midfielder played a vital role throughout the club’s triumphant Libertadores campaign and further showcased his class in the Intercontinental Cup, firing his side to victory in the Derby of the Americas with a brace against Cruz Azul. At international level, the creative schemer’s form dipped along with Uruguay’s, but he looks primed to be a pivotal figure at the World Cup.
La Verde’s last World Cup memory dates to 27 June 1994, when a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Spain at Soldier Field in Chicago closed out their Group C campaign in the United States. Despite the side’s early exit, it was a landmark day: Erwin Sanchez scored his country’s first World Cup goal in their third tournament on the global stage.
Now, more than 30 years on, after a final-matchday qualifying triumph over Brazil that will be forever etched in the memories of an entire nation, Bolivia dream of returning to North America. In March 2026, they will contest the intercontinental play-offs, with two golden tickets to football’s showpiece event on offer.
Brazil put Portugal to the sword 3-0 to lift the trophy at the maiden FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup, in the Philippines, where Argentina recorded a commendable fourth-place finish. The Verdeamarela are head and shoulders above the rest of the field in women’s futsal and were rampant throughout the competition, extending their world-record winning streak to 43 matches, in which they have notched up 303 goals and conceded just 17. Emilly stole the show and took home not just a winner’s medal but also the adidas Golden Ball and Golden Boot.
Brazil also clinched their seventh Beach Soccer World Cup title, beating Belarus in an incredible final in the Seychelles. Rodrigo was in scintillating form throughout. He scored twice in the decider and won the adidas Golden Ball award.
Elsewhere, Marta made waves at her international comeback tournament, helping Brazil to their fifth Copa America Femenina title on the spin. Colombia pushed the Seleção all the way in the final, in which the Orlando Pride stalwart climbed off the bench to score a late double – including a sensational equaliser in second-half stoppage time – before the Brazilians prevailed 5-4 from the spot, despite the veteran failing to convert her own kick. As hosts, Brazil are guaranteed a place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027™, leaving the nine other teams to vie for the continent’s two remaining berths at the global extravaganza, which will be determined via the CONMEBOL Women’s Nations League.