Copa Libertadores is one of the most competitive, exciting and popular club football competitions in the world. If you enjoy betting on it, we’ve got a list of betting sites available for Copa Libertadores betting below.
What Is Copa Libertadores?
Copa Libertadores is the most important club competition involving South American teams and has been held since 1960, being the brainchild of Brazilian Joao Havelange, who was later the President of FIFA for 24 years up until 1998.
The best way to describe it is to say that it’s very much the South American equivalent of the European Champions League. It sees the continent’s best teams compete against each other for the right to be considered the champions of South American club football.
Its format is somewhat similar to how the Champions League operated until the 2024-25 season with qualifying rounds, followed by a four-team Group Stage, then two-leg knockout rounds all the way up to the one-match final.
It’s a huge deal for fans of South American football because to see their side beating every other club side in what is a huge footballing continent is the club equivalent of being crowned Copa America winners.
Unsurprisingly, Copa Libertadores betting is extremely popular not just with South American football bettors but also those in Europe and North America.
Not only is it an extremely competitive tournament with high-quality football but the fact that it’s generally on at different times than the big European matches also contributes to the number of Europe-based punters wanting to engage in Copa Libertadores sports betting.
How to Bet on Copa Libertadores
When betting on competitions you're not that familiar with, it is always a good idea to at least understand the basics so you can make good betting decisions. Here are some tips to point you in the right direction.
Understanding the Format and Key Betting Opportunities
The tournament begins with 12 teams contesting a two-legged knock-out round, with the six winners of that round progressing to the next stage where they join 26 teams who enter the Copa Libertadores at the second stage.
Much like with the old Champions League, those 32 teams are divided into four groups of eight, playing each side home and away.
The winner and runner-up of each of the eight groups then progress to the knockout rounds, played over two legs, each one preceded by a draw to see who plays who, all the way to the final.
One thing to remember when betting on Copa Libertadores is the impact caused by long flights and testing weather conditions.
For example, playing away at Bolivian sides can involve playing at high altitude meaning visiting players can struggle to breathe properly and will tire far quicker than in matches played at sea level.
Other teams boast fervent home support, to a greater level than in European football, making it particularly uncomfortable for the away side to get a result.
Tips for Analysing Teams and Players
All successful betting on football involves good knowledge of the team you’re betting on and their players. When it comes to betting on Copa America, Copa Libertadores or the Premiere League, always consider the following vital factors:
- Recent form: How has the team been performing over the last couple of months?
- Head-to-head record: What have the team’s results been like against that opposition in the past?
- Squad strength: What is the quality of the players who are likely to start, and what is their bench strength like in terms of players who can come off the bench to make an impact, or fill in for injured or suspended first-team players?
- Manager: Does the team have an experienced manager with good tactical know-how who sets his team up well and knows his players inside out? Or is the manager inexperienced in general terms and new to the club?
- The players: Are the key players fit, in good form and highly motivated for the upcoming game? Or are they missing important players for one reason or another that could affect the manager’s plans?
Another important consideration with Copa Libertadores online betting is how much the upcoming match means to them. If they’re bottom of the table in the Group Stages with no chance of qualification for the next round, they may decide to focus on their next domestic match rather than this one.
Our Method of Choosing the Best Copa Libertadores Betting Sites
It’s not always easy to know which new betting sites and more established ones are the best Copa Libertadores betting sites. Thankfully, we here at AskGamblers are here to help you find out which are the top online Copa Libertadores betting sites and which aren’t.
Here are some of the main things we look at.
How to Choose a Reliable Betting Platform
By reliable, we mean that a sportsbook holds a respectable betting licence and has a good track record of treating customers well when it comes to settling bets correctly and allowing customers to withdraw winnings without unnecessary delays.
Reliability can also mean that the site doesn’t crash, that your money and data are safe and that everything the Copa Libertadores betting site does is by the book.
Top Features to Look for in a Betting Site
And here are some of the features we also look at as important ones when assessing how good the betting site is.
- Odds: The Copa Libertadores odds on offer are arguably the most important factor of all. Consistently getting higher odds than the industry average results in consistently bigger payouts when you win.
- Live Streaming: You may not be able to watch Copa Libertadores matches live on TV if you’re based in Europe, so a good alternative is an online Copa Libertadores betting site that offers streaming for free. This is particularly important if you’re a fan of live betting.
- Range of markets: We discuss some of the most popular Copa Libertadores betting markets below, but suffice it to say that the more markets there are, the better for you.
- Payment Options: When betting on Copa Libertadores, the site you choose should have a good range of payment options (debit cards, e-wallets, crypto) for both depositing and withdrawing, not charge fees on transactions and process them as quickly as possible.
- On-site content: Livestreaming is a good example of great on-site content, but stats around the matches and a thorough set of general FAQs save you time and money by not having to contact customer support.
- Bonuses and offers: Free bets are all the rage these days as the most popular form of bonus. Welcome bonuses, odds boosts, acca insurance and cashback are other good types of bonuses that keep customers engaged and feeling valued.
Popular Betting Markets for Copa Libertadores
When wagering on the Copa Libertadores, there are lots of different betting types to get stuck into. The markets tend to be the same as those available for most other big football matches, and here’s a recap of some of the ones that Copa Libertadores betting fans play the most.
Winner Market (Moneyline) / Double Chance
Will Team A win, will Team B win, or will they share the spoils (and the points) with the match ending in a draw?
For customers who want to play a slightly safer version of this market, a good alternative is the Double Chance market, where you cover two of the three options in one bet.
For example, if it was Flamengo v Boca Juniors, you could take Flamengo and the Draw and would win on either of those. The only downside is you’re getting shorter odds than the straight Flamengo win or just the draw.
Over/Under Goals
The second most popular market after the match winner is the over/under 2.5 goals market, where you just have to decide whether you think the match will have more, or less, than three goals in it.
Alternatives are the over/under 1.5 and over/under 3.5 goals markets but the 2.5 goals one is by far the one that customers play the most.
Both Teams to Score
Will there be goals at both ends (yes) or will one of the two teams keep a clean sheet in the match (no)? Any result like 1-1, 2-1, 3-3 or 4-2 would be ‘yes’. Any result involving a 0, like 0-0, 2-0, 3-0 or 0-2 would be settled as a ‘no’.
Future Betting
Futures betting is often known in the UK as Outright Betting and refers to any markets that relate to the competition as a whole rather than individual matches.
Examples of this are who will win the whole of the Copa Libertadores, who will win each of the Groups or which player will end up as the competition’s top goalscorer
Bet Builders
Bet Builders allow you to combine different selections relating to the same match all within one bet, which is why they’re sometimes known as same-game accas.
For example, you could have River Plate to beat Santos, with over 2.5 goals in the game and more than 10.5 corners. The Copa Libertadores betting site will work out the odds of the bet based on each of the three selections, and you’ll need all of them to come good for the Bet Builder to win.
Copa Libertadores Betting Tips
Time to round things off with some general Copa Libertadores betting tips to try to make you some money.
Argentinian and Brazilian Teams Are the Way Forward
No side has won this competition more often than Independiente (7 titles), while Boca Juniors (6), River Plate (4) and Estudiantes (4) occupy positions two, four and five, respectively.
Having said all that, Argentinean teams as a whole have won 25 editions between them, and Brazilian teams have won 24, so they produce plenty of winners, as well.
However, all of the last six editions have been won by Brazilian teams: Flamengo (2), Palmeiras (2), Botafogo and Fluminense once.
Get Your Money Early
If you fancy a team to win the competition, you should back them before the tournament gets underway.
Once they’ve played their first match and they win that, their odds may have crashed by then, and you’ll have to take lower odds because they’re in a better position than when you considered betting on them. If you back them and they lose their first match, they still have time to recover anyway.
Get the Best Odds by Having Accounts With Multiple Sportsbooks
Whether you’re betting on the overall winner or even on individual matches, you need to ensure you get the best possible odds on that selection.
The best way to do that is to have multiple accounts rather than just one. So, if you wanted to back Fluminense to beat Estudiantes and Bookies 1, 2 and 3 were offering odds of 2.2, 2.4 and 2.1, respectively, it would make sense to back Fluminense with Bookie 2, at the highest odds of the three.
Make Use of the Bonuses
This isn’t advice specific to betting on Copa Libertadores but to all football betting, or any sports betting for that matter.
If a betting site offers you a free bet rather than you having to use your own cash, use the free bet.
If a bookie is boosting odds on a selection you like anyway, that’s even more reason to back it.
If making a deposit on a particular day leads to a free bet or other bonus and you were thinking of making a deposit anyway, make sure you do so on that particular day so you can benefit from the bonus.
