2018 Copa Libertadores group stage

The 2018 Copa Libertadores group stage is scheduled to be played from 27 February to 24 May 2018. A total of 32 teams compete in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the final stages of the 2018 Copa Libertadores.

The draw for the group stage was held on 20 December 2017, 20:00 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.

Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL ranking of the Copa Libertadores (shown in parentheses), taking into account of the following three factors:

For the group stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups (Groups 1–8) of four containing a team from each of the four pots. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group, excluding the winners of the third stage, which were allocated to Pot 4 and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same group with another team from the same association.

The following are the four winners of the third stage of qualifying which join the 28 direct entrants in the group stage.

In the group stage, each group is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, the following criteria are used to determine the ranking: 1. Goal difference; 2. Goals scored; 3. Away goals scored; 4. CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 28).

The winners and runners-up of each group advance to the round of 16 of the knockout stages. The third-placed teams of each group enter the Copa Sudamericana second stage.

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