- The 11th edition of the tournament got underway at the Estadio Multideportivo Ferro Carril Oeste in Buenos Aires with four Group Stage matches.
- Stein Cascavel and Víctor Muriel won comfortably, La Unión and Llaneros shared the points, and Ferro Carril Oeste beat Caracas FC convincingly to close out the day.
The CONMEBOL Libertadores Futsal Femenina 2026 is underway. The Estadio Multideportivo Ferro Carril Oeste in Buenos Aires hosted the four matches of the opening round of the Group Stage on Saturday, the starting point of a competition that brings together the champions of the ten Member Associations and runs until Saturday, 14 November.
The format is the usual one: two groups of five teams, a single round-robin, with the top two in each group advancing to the Semi-finals on Friday 13. On opening day, Group B saw La Unión and Llaneros draw and Stein Cascavel beat Universidad de Chile comfortably, while in Group A Víctor Muriel clearly got the better of Mecatrónica and hosts Ferro Carril Oeste closed the day with a 5-1 win over Caracas FC. Peñarol and Exa Ysaty had the day off.
La Unión (ECU) 1-1 Llaneros (COL) – Group B
The tournament opened at midday with a share of the spoils. Ecuador’s representative, champions of their country’s Torneo Femenino, and Colombia’s, who arrived in Buenos Aires as champions of the Campeonato Nacional Interclubes, drew 1-1 in an even contest that left both with a point in the Group B table. Dayanna Ramón scored for the Ecuadorians and Sharit Reyes for the Colombian side.
The fixture had a recent precedent: in the 2024 edition, held in Cochabamba, La Unión and Llaneros met in the fifth-place match and the Ecuadorians won 5-2. This time, the Cuenca side coached by Eli Paz and the Villavicencio team led by Berley Villa could not be separated.
Both return to the court on Sunday. Llaneros face Exa Ysaty, who sat out the opening round, and La Unión take on Universidad de Chile.
Stein Cascavel (BRA) 4-0 Universidad de Chile (CHI) – Group B
The 2023 and 2024 champions began their push for a third title with a clear victory. Giovanna opened the scoring in the first half and, after the break, Flávia, Camila and Luana extended the lead for a 4-0 win that put the Paraná side top of Group B. It was Stein’s second consecutive win over the Chileans in the tournament, following the 5-0 in the 2024 Group Stage in Cochabamba.
Pivot Giovanna, scorer of the team’s first goal of the competition, spoke of “an immense feeling” at scoring and winning on her continental debut, and stressed that the squad managed to adapt to the difficulties posed by the floor and the ball. Her coach, Márcio Coelho, agreed with the diagnosis: “We found a floor that made the game slower,” he explained, before describing the performance as “an excellent debut” and calling for feet to stay on the ground in a group he considers difficult.
Stein Cascavel have Sunday off and return to action on Monday 9 at 14:30 against La Unión. If they lift the trophy on 14 November, they will become the first club with three titles in the history of a competition in which Brazil has won all ten previous editions. Universidad de Chile will look to bounce back on Sunday against La Unión.
Mecatrónica (PER) 1-7 Víctor Muriel (BOL) – Group A
Group A got underway with the biggest win of the day. Víctor Muriel, the Bolivian champions, beat Peru’s representative Mecatrónica 7-1 and finished the day top of the group on goal difference, ahead of Ferro Carril Oeste. María Cristina Gálvez, with three goals, was the star of the afternoon for the Cochabamba side, who completed the tally with a brace from Alexandra Montalvo and goals from Fanny Rodríguez and Karen Ramírez, while Luisa Gutiérrez pulled one back for the Peruvians.
The Cochabamba team, coached by Alejandro Muriel, are making their second consecutive appearance in the tournament: in 2025, in Luque, they finished sixth, and they arrived in Buenos Aires after being crowned champions of the first edition of Bolivia’s Liga Femenina de Futsal. Mecatrónica, champions of Peru’s Primera División de Futsal Femenino in 2025, are making their debut in the continental competition.
Víctor Muriel face a demanding test on Sunday at 19:30 against Peñarol, who sat out the opening round, while Mecatrónica take on Caracas FC at 17:00.
Ferro Carril Oeste (ARG) 5-1 Caracas FC (VEN) – Group A
The close of the day belonged to the hosts. In front of their home crowd in Caballito, Ferro Carril Oeste beat Caracas FC 5-1 in their first-ever match in the competition and picked up their first three points in Group A, where they share top spot with Víctor Muriel. The ‘Verde’ goals came from Menaly Orellana, Rocío Díaz, a Karlis Durán own goal, Lara Villalba and Sofía Chávez, while Adrianny Luna pulled one back for the Venezuelan side.
The ‘Verde’ from Caballito, AFA Primera División champions in 2025, are making their debut in the competition as Argentina’s sole representative and doing so as hosts, the first time the country has staged the tournament. The Albiceleste nation has four runner-up finishes in the history of the competition, the most recent with All Boys in 2025. Caracas FC, for their part, arrived in Buenos Aires as champions of the Liga FUTVE Futsal Femenina.
Ferro Carril Oeste return to action on Monday 9 at 19:30 against Mecatrónica, and Caracas FC face the Peruvian side on Sunday at 17:00.
What’s next
The second round takes place on Sunday 8 November at the same venue, with Ferro Carril Oeste and Stein Cascavel having the day off. The schedule features La Unión – Universidad de Chile and Exa Ysaty – Llaneros in Group B, and Caracas FC – Mecatrónica and Peñarol – Víctor Muriel in Group A. The Group Stage runs until Wednesday 11, the Semi-finals are on Friday 13 and the Final on Saturday 14.
