| Tourney Name: | Copa Sudamericana |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Num Teams: | 44+10 |
| Associations: | 10 |
| Count: | 1 |
| Second Other: |  Junior |
| Matches: | 106 |
| Goals: | 226 |
| Top Scorer: | Nicolás Benedetti Pablo(5 goals each) |
| Prevseason: | 2017 |
| Nextseason: | 2019 |
The 2018 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 17th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the Copa Sudamericana, or Portuguese: Copa Sul-Americana), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense defeated Colombian club Junior by 4–3 on penalties in the finals after a 2–2 draw on aggregate score to win their first tournament title.[1] As champions, Atlético Paranaense earned the right to play against the winners of the 2018 Copa Libertadores in the 2019 Recopa Sudamericana, and the winners of the 2018 J.League Cup in the 2019 J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship.[2] They also automatically qualified for the 2019 Copa Libertadores group stage. Independiente were the defending champions, but did not play in this edition as they qualified for the 2018 Copa Libertadores group stage as Copa Sudamericana champions and later advanced to the knockout stage.
The following 44 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL associations qualified for the tournament, entering the first stage:[3]
| Association | Team | Qualification method |
|---|---|---|
 Argentina | 2016–17 Primera División best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores[4] | |
| 2016–17 Primera División 2nd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2016–17 Primera División 3rd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2016–17 Primera División 4th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2016–17 Primera División 5th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2016–17 Primera División 6th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
 Bolivia | 2016–17 Primera División aggregate table best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores[5] | |
| 2016–17 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2016–17 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2016–17 Primera División aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| Brazil | 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores[6] | |
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2nd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 5th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 6th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| Chile | 2017 Primera División runners-up playoff losers[7] | |
| 2017 Transición best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Transición 2nd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Transición 3rd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| Colombia | 2017 Primera A aggregate table best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores[8] | |
| 2017 Primera A aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Primera A aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Primera A aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
 Ecuador | 2017 Serie A aggregate table best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores[9] | |
| 2017 Serie A aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Serie A aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Serie A Copa Sudamericana playoff winners | ||
| Paraguay | 2017 Primera División aggregate table best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores[10] | |
| 2017 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Primera División aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
 Peru | 2017 Descentralizado aggregate table best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores[11] | |
| 2017 Descentralizado aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Descentralizado aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Descentralizado aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| Uruguay | 2017 Primera División aggregate table best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores[12] | |
| 2017 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Primera División aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
 Venezuela | 2017 Copa Venezuela champions[13] | |
| 2017 Clausura classification table best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||
| 2017 Apertura runners-up | ||
| 2017 Primera División aggregate table best team not qualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores |
A further 10 teams eliminated from the 2018 Copa Libertadores were transferred to the Copa Sudamericana, entering the second stage.
| Best teams eliminated in third stage | |
|---|---|
| Jorge Wilstermann | |
| Banfield | |
| Third-placed teams in group stage | |
| Defensor Sporting | |
| Bolívar | |
| Peñarol | |
| Santa Fe | |
| Vasco da Gama | |
| Nacional | |
| Millonarios | |
| Junior |
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[14]
| Stage | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First stage | 20 December 2017 (Luque, Paraguay)[15] | ||
| Second stage | 4 June 2018 (Luque, Paraguay) | ||
| Round of 16 | |||
| Quarterfinals | 23–25 October 2018 | 30 October – 1 November 2018 | |
| Semifinals | 7–8 November 2018 | 28–29 November 2018 | |
| Finals | 5 December 2018 | 12 December 2018 | |
See main article: article and 2018 Copa Sudamericana first stage.
See main article: article and 2018 Copa Sudamericana second stage.
See main article: article and 2018 Copa Sudamericana final stages.
See main article: 2018 Copa Sudamericana Finals.
| Rank | Player | Team | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicolás Benedetti | Deportivo Cali | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||||||
| Pablo | Atlético Paranaense | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 3 | Diomar Díaz | Caracas | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Nicolás Fernández | Defensa y Justicia | 1 | 1 | x | 2 | ||||||||||
| Nikão | Atlético Paranaense | 1 | 1 | x | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 6 | Juan Luis Anangonó | LDU Quito | 1 | 2 | x | 3 | |||||||||
| Luis Díaz | Junior | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Teófilo Gutiérrez | Junior | 1 | 1 | x | 1 | ||||||||||
| Emanuel Herrera | Sporting Cristal | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Rodrigo Pimpão | Botafogo | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| José Sand | Deportivo Cali | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Zé Rafael | Bahia | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Matías Zunino | Nacional | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Rank | Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anderson Julio | LDU Quito | 3 |
| Pablo | Atlético Paranaense | ||
| Régis | Bahia | ||
| Renan Lodi | Atlético Paranaense | ||
| Junior Sornoza | Fluminense |