TL;DR
- River Plate has the most Libertadores appearances for an Argentine team with 41.
- River Plate's 2026 Libertadores qualification is complicated by recent losses.
- River Plate finished fourth in the annual standings, currently in Copa Sudamericana.
- River Plate needs Boca, Argentinos, or Lanús to win Clausura for Libertadores spot.
Participating in the Libertadores is a tradition for River: el Millonario stands out as the Argentine team with the most appearances in the tournament, boasting 41. Since 1990, they've only missed it in 1992, 1994, and the span from 2010 to 2014.
The expansion of spots for Argentine football teams has made it even easier to play in the Libertadores, even without being champions, but for the next edition, River hasn't yet guaranteed its spot. They've become quite complicated with a long streak of losses that took them out of first place in the annual standings, and now hace cálculos en las últimas semanas del año.
Más | Así está la tabla anual del fútbol argentino
River Plate's path to the 2026 Copa Libertadores qualification.
River's simplest route to qualifying for the 2026 Libertadores was ganar el Torneo Clausura 2025. Nevertheless, their derrota en octavos de final ante Racing completely ruined that potential path to the Cup.
En la tabla anual, River finalizó en el cuarto lugar, detrás de Rosario Central, Boca y Argentinos Juniors. Por lo tanto, hoy por hoy, los de Marcelo Gallardo estarían jugando Copa Sudamericana.
En conclusión, River tiene que esperar que Boca, Argentinos o Lanús ganen el Clausura, lo cual liberaría una plaza más por tabla anual, enviando a River a la fase previa de la Libertadores.