- ‘Xeneize’ cruised to a 4-0 victory over Deportivo Recoleta in Asunción, completed a 7-1 aggregate win in the Round of 16 and will face São Paulo for a place in the Semi-finals.
- Back-to-back champions in 2004 and 2005, Boca are aiming to become the first three-time winners in the history of the competition, with Santiago Ascacíbar and a new generation of young players among the key figures in their growth during the knockout stage.
Boca Juniors entered the CONMEBOL Sudamericana with a point to prove. They began their international campaign in Group D of the CONMEBOL Libertadores and appeared to be on course for qualification after two victories, but collected just one point from their next four matches and finished third. The switch of competitions offered a second opportunity, and ‘Xeneize’ have already turned it into a place among the continent’s final eight.
The end of the Group Stage also marked the conclusion of Claudio Úbeda’s tenure. During the break, Rodolfo Arruabarrena began his second spell as head coach and welcomed new signings such as Álvaro Montero, Leandro Lozano and Sebastián Villa, alongside the emergence of several academy players who earned greater roles in the team. His first obstacle was O’Higgins: Boca won 1-0 in Argentina, lost by the same scoreline in Chile and advanced 4-3 on penalties.
The Round of 16 brought a much more clinical version of Boca. Recoleta took an early lead in the first leg, but Boca responded in the second half and won 3-1 through goals from Santiago Ascacíbar, Milton Delgado and Leonel Flores. Villa came off the bench and provided two assists in a comeback that left qualification firmly within reach ahead of the trip to Paraguay.
In Asunción, Boca left no room for another surprise. Ascacíbar scored again, Villa netted his first goal since returning to the club, and Miguel Merentiel and Alan Velasco completed the 4-0 victory. Boca finished the tie with a 7-1 aggregate win, recorded the biggest away victory in their CONMEBOL Sudamericana history and advanced to the Quarter-finals for the sixth time.
Their next challenge will be São Paulo, winners of the competition in 2012 and still unbeaten in the 2026 edition. Boca, champions in 2004 and 2005, therefore face another tie steeped in continental history as they look to return to the Semi-finals and keep alive their ambition of becoming the first three-time winners of ‘La Gran Conquista’.
Boca Juniors in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Results and Schedule
CONMEBOL Libertadores Group Stage — Group D
Matchday 1: Universidad Católica 1-2 Boca Juniors (Juan Díaz / Leandro Paredes and Adam Bareiro, assist by Lautaro Blanco)
Matchday 2: Boca Juniors 3-0 Barcelona (Lautaro Di Lollo and Santiago Ascacíbar, both assisted by Lautaro Blanco, and Ander Herrera, assist by Alan Velasco)
Matchday 3: Cruzeiro 1-0 Boca Juniors (Néiser Villarreal, assist by Kaio Jorge)
Matchday 4: Barcelona 1-0 Boca Juniors (Héctor Villalba, assist by Jhonny Quiñónez)
Matchday 5: Boca Juniors 1-1 Cruzeiro (Miguel Merentiel, assist by Leandro Paredes / Fágner, assist by Kaiki)
Matchday 6: Boca Juniors 0-1 Universidad Católica (Clemente Montes, assist by Eugenio Mena)
CONMEBOL Sudamericana Round of 16 Playoffs
First Leg: Boca Juniors 1-0 O’Higgins (44’ PT Miguel Merentiel, assist by Leandro Paredes)
Second Leg: O’Higgins 1-0 Boca Juniors (27’ ST Francisco González). Boca won the penalty shootout 4-3.
CONMEBOL Sudamericana Round of 16
First Leg: Boca Juniors 3-1 Deportivo Recoleta (Pedro Ríos / Santiago Ascacíbar, Milton Delgado and Leonel Flores)
Second Leg: Deportivo Recoleta 0-4 Boca Juniors (Santiago Ascacíbar, Sebastián Villa, Miguel Merentiel and Alan Velasco). Boca advanced 7-1 on aggregate.
Boca Juniors Head Coach in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Rodolfo Arruabarrena
Boca’s international campaign began under Claudio Úbeda, but the leadership changed after the team’s elimination in the CONMEBOL Libertadores Group Stage. Rodolfo Arruabarrena returned to the club in June, during the World Cup break, a decade after his first spell in charge.
During his previous tenure, between August 2014 and March 2016, he managed 73 matches and won two titles: the 2015 Argentine Primera División and that same season’s Copa Argentina. His connection with Boca runs even deeper: he came through the club’s academy and, as a left-back, was part of the team that won the 2000 CONMEBOL Libertadores.
After coaching in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia — as well as taking charge of the UAE national team — ‘Vasco’ returned with the task of rebuilding ‘Xeneize’. Paredes took control of the team, several academy products earned greater roles, and Santiago Ascacíbar was given an increasingly attacking function, making late runs from midfield and developing into a constant threat inside the box.
Qualification against O’Higgins was far from straightforward: Boca needed penalties after the teams traded 1-0 victories. The Round of 16, however, showed clear progress. Boca came from behind to win the first leg against Recoleta 3-1 before cruising to a 4-0 victory in Asunción, with goals from Ascacíbar, Sebastián Villa, Miguel Merentiel and Alan Velasco, completing a 7-1 aggregate win.
Arruabarrena has therefore already guided Boca through two knockout ties in this CONMEBOL Sudamericana and into the final eight. Their next challenge will be São Paulo, who remain unbeaten in the competition: a tie steeped in continental tradition that will test just how far ‘Vasco’s’ rebuilding project can go, as Boca continue their pursuit of a third ‘Gran Conquista’.
Full Boca Juniors Squad for the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana
Goalkeepers: 1. Alvaro Montero - 12. Leandro Brey - 13. Javier Garcia - 47. Fernando Rodriguez.
Defenders: 2. Lautaro Di Lollo - 3. Lautaro Blanco - 4. Jorge Figal - 17. Leandro Lozano - 24. Dylan Gorosito - 26. Marco Pellegrino - 27. Malcom Braida - 32. Ayrton Costa - 40. Santiago Zampieri - 46. Matias Satas - 51. Gian Gadiel Paoli - 48. Baltazar Blum.
Midfielders: 5. Leandro Paredes - 6. Rodrigo Battaglia - 7. Carlos Palacios - 8. Tomas Belmonte - 15. Williams Alarcón - 18. Milton Delgado - 23. Camilo Rey - 25. Santiago Ascacibar - 31. Gonzalo Marquez - 34. Juan Payal - 35. Franco Perez - 39. Matias Calegari.
Forwards: 9. Milton Gimenez - 10. Tomas Aranda - 11. Ángel Romero - 16. Miguel Merentiel - 19. Leonel Flores - 20. Alan Velasco - 21. Kevin Zenón - 22. Sebastian Villa - 28. Adam Bareiro - 33. Lautaro Mendieta - 37. Gonzalo Gelini - 42. Facundo Herrera - 44. Rodrigo Bacidalupe - 45. Silvio Ventos - 49. Joaquin Piñeyro - 50. Dante Gonzalez - 52. Juan Pussetto - 53. Joaquin Ruiz - 54. Kevin Ferreira.
Boca Juniors’ Key Player in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Leandro Paredes
Boca have found much more than a holding midfielder in Leandro Paredes. He is the captain, the player who organises the build-up and the one the team looks to when it needs to change the tempo of possession or break lines with a pass. The No. 5 remains the axis around which Rodolfo Arruabarrena structures ‘Xeneize’.
His continental campaign began with a goal from outside the box against Universidad Católica. He later assisted Merentiel against Cruzeiro and set up the Uruguayan again in the first meeting with O’Higgins, using the outside of his right foot to deliver a pass that split the Chilean defence. In the shootout in Rancagua, he also stepped up to take Boca’s first penalty and converted, setting the tone for a contest his team would eventually win.
Paredes started the 3-1 comeback victory over Deportivo Recoleta in the first leg of the Round of 16, although the Paraguayan side managed to disrupt Boca’s build-up at times. A knock suffered later against Platense in the domestic league ruled him out of the return leg in Asunción, where Boca still cruised to a 4-0 victory and secured their place in the Quarter-finals.
Their next challenge will be São Paulo, one of the most prestigious continental matchups of the round. For Boca, having their captain back at full fitness means regaining the player who controls the tempo, organises possession and can create the decisive advantage in a tight knockout tie with a single pass.
Boca Juniors’ Top Scorer in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Miguel Merentiel
Miguel Merentiel is Boca’s leading scorer in international competition this season, with three goals. He scored against Cruzeiro in the CONMEBOL Libertadores Group Stage, netted the only goal of the tie against O’Higgins and struck again in the Round of 16 against Deportivo Recoleta: after receiving a pass from Milton Delgado, he finished to make it 3-0 in the emphatic victory in Asunción. With nine goals in 2026, he is also ‘Xeneize’s’ leading scorer across all competitions this year.
One of the team’s main attacking figures, Merentiel continues to lead the line in Rodolfo Arruabarrena’s system and has already scored twice in this CONMEBOL Sudamericana, level with Santiago Ascacíbar. His experience and ability to deliver in decisive matches will once again be important in the Quarter-finals against São Paulo, a tie that will raise the level of difficulty for a Boca side coming off a commanding 7-1 aggregate victory in the Round of 16.
Boca Juniors’ X-Factor in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Tomás Aranda
The No. 10 shirt was handed to Tomás Aranda, and the 19-year-old academy product has begun to justify a decision loaded with symbolism. Left-footed, fearless and comfortable receiving between the lines, he has become one of the main sources of attacking unpredictability in Arruabarrena’s side and was one of Boca’s standout players in the demanding tie against O’Higgins.
His most convincing performance came in the second leg in Chile. He was involved in seven of Boca’s 15 shots: he took five himself — two of them on target — and created another two with his passing. Omar Carabalí denied him twice in the closing minutes and later saved his penalty in the shootout, although ‘Xeneize’ ultimately prevailed 4-3.
In the Round of 16, the attacking responsibility was shared among several players: Santiago Ascacíbar, Milton Delgado and Leonel Flores scored in the 3-1 first-leg victory over Recoleta, before Boca completed the tie with a 4-0 win in Asunción. Aranda remains one of the options capable of changing the tempo through central areas and heads into the Quarter-finals against São Paulo as part of a young generation already taking on major responsibilities in a campaign that has placed ‘Xeneize’ among the continent’s final eight.
Boca Juniors’ History in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana
Boca are competing in their 12th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana in 2026. The defining chapters of their history in the tournament were written in 2004 and 2005, when they became the first champions to successfully defend the title and remain, to this day, the only club to have lifted the trophy in consecutive seasons.
In 2004, Boca lost the first leg of the Final 1-0 to Bolívar in La Paz, but overturned the tie with a 2-0 victory at La Bombonera. One year later, they drew both legs of the Final against Pumas UNAM before winning the penalty shootout 4-3 in Buenos Aires. Boca came close to the title again in 2014, reaching the Semi-finals with Rodolfo Arruabarrena as head coach.
The 2026 edition has already taken them back to a stage they had not reached since that campaign. After eliminating O’Higgins on penalties in the Playoffs, Boca defeated Deportivo Recoleta 3-1 and 4-0 to complete a 7-1 aggregate victory. It marked their sixth appearance in the Quarter-finals of the competition and their first since 2014.
With Arruabarrena once again on the bench, Paredes pulling the strings and a blend of experienced leaders and young players growing in importance during the knockout stage, Boca continue to pursue a milestone no club has yet achieved: winning a third CONMEBOL Sudamericana title. Their next obstacle will be 2012 champions São Paulo, in a tie steeped in continental tradition for a place in the Semi-finals.
