Copa Libertadores · 1960–2026

Who is the king of Copa Libertadores comebacks?

It depends on what you call a comeback. Define yours and see who rules.

Your definition

When
Rounds
Deficit in the tie
Era

The throne is shared: Atlético Mineiro and one other club.

Atlético Mineiro has 3 comebacks in the 10 times it was going out (30%), and was overturned 0 times. In all there are 27 comebacks in 471 chances: it happens 5.7% of the time.

The ranking

The 12 clubs with the most comebacks.

# Club Came back Going out Rate Suffered
1Atlético Mineiro31030%0
2Palmeiras31421.4%0
3Fluminense2450%1
4Libertad21020%0
5Chiapas1250%0
6Rosario Central1250%2
7Santa Fe1425%0
8Vasco da Gama1425%0
9Junior1616.7%1
10Club América1714.3%0
11Internacional1714.3%1
12Flamengo1812.5%1

Tap a club to see its comebacks.

How it is counted

We look at the match that decides the tie: the second leg, the play-off if there was one, or the final. A club was going out if, at that moment, it was losing the tie (or behind on away goals, which applied from 2005 to 2021 and never in the final). If everything was level, nobody was going out.

Until 1987 ties were decided on points, not on aggregate: winning 5-0 and losing 0-1 left the tie level and a third match was played. In those years, going out means trailing the tie on points.

What is included: from 1960 to 1965, semi-finals and final; from 1966 to 1987, the final only, because the tournament was played in groups up to it; since 1988, every knockout tie from the round of 16 to the final. The group stage and qualifying are not included.

The cut at 90 comes before stoppage time and the one at 105 is half-time of extra time. Minute 0 is kick-off of the deciding match: whoever lost the first leg starts out. “Exactly at that minute” looks at that instant only; “at that minute or later” also counts a club that fell behind later and turned it around. The rate is comebacks divided by the times the club was going out.

Data: match reports from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), English and Spanish editions, 1960 to 2026: knockout ties and finals, no group stage or qualifying. Calculation and era-by-era rules: La Lente by Sir Balone, edited by Juan Carlos Vasquez.