CONMEBOL is killing the soul of the Copa Sudamericana with neutral finals

The death of the home-and-away final

CONMEBOL has officially committed to the single-leg neutral site format for the 2026 Copa Sudamericana final. For those of us who grew up watching the two-legged chaos of the 90s and 2000s, this is a gut punch. The Sudamericana was always the tournament for the gritty underdogs, the clubs that thrived in their own hostile backyards, not for corporate sponsors in a sanitized stadium thousands of miles away.

Remember the 2008 final? Estudiantes and Internacional battled it out over two legs, with the atmosphere in Porto Alegre feeling like the ground was literally shaking. That tension, the tactical chess match of the first leg followed by the desperate scramble of the second, is what made this competition unique. Now, we get one night of artificial pageantry.

The logistical nightmare of neutral grounds

We saw this disaster play out in the Copa Libertadores. When the final moved to a single-leg format in 2019, the travel costs for fans became prohibitive almost overnight. It forces supporters to choose between a month's rent or a flight to a city that might not even have a direct route from their home country. The result is a stadium filled with locals who don't care about the clubs, turning a continental showpiece into a hollow television production.

The scheduling for 2026 remains a point of contention. By stripping the tournament of its home-and-away structure, CONMEBOL is effectively killing the secondary market for tickets and the local revenue that smaller clubs rely on. These clubs need that second-leg home gate money to balance their books for the following season. Without it, the financial gap between the elite and the rest only widens.

The phantom atmosphere problem

Look at the 2023 final between Fortaleza and LDU Quito. The crowd was sparse in parts of the stadium, and the energy was nowhere near what we saw during the semi-final stages at the Castelão. When you take the passion out of the home stands, you take the football out of the game. A neutral site might look good on a high-definition broadcast, but it feels like a friendly match played in a vacuum.

There is a recurring issue with how these venues are selected, as noted in reports on CONMEBOL official communications regarding host selection criteria. The decision-making process feels disconnected from the actual fan experience. We are trading the raw, unscripted drama of a packed stadium in Avellaneda or Bogota for a sleek, corporate-friendly package that lacks any real history.

Why the old way was better

The beauty of the two-legged final was the narrative arc. A team could get demolished 3-0 in the first leg and still have a puncher’s chance at home. It demanded resilience, tactical flexibility, and a specific kind of mental fortitude that a one-off neutral game simply does not test. If you lose an hour into a neutral final, the game is effectively over because there is no second half to the story.

CONMEBOL argues this change is about growth and international appeal. Yet, the history of the sport in South America is built on the exact opposite. It is built on the idea that the journey to the final is as important as the trophy itself. By forcing teams to play in a venue that favors neither, they are removing the very thing that makes the Sudamericana a prestigious tournament: the home-field advantage that defines regional football.

• Loss of gate revenue for smaller clubs
• Exclusion of working-class supporters due to travel costs
• Diluted atmosphere compared to traditional home-and-away fixtures
• Increased reliance on corporate hospitality over local passion

If 2026 follows the trajectory of previous neutral finals, we should expect a sterile environment. The players will walk out to a half-empty stadium, the tension will be manufactured, and the true supporters will be watching from a pub back home. It is a cynical move that prioritizes broadcast logistics over the people who actually keep these clubs alive. We are losing the soul of the game one neutral final at a time.