- Boca Juniors remain unbeaten in their four official meetings with Vasco da Gama, recording two wins and two draws.
- All four previous encounters came in 2001. They will now meet for the first time in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana, with a place in the Final at stake.
Boca Juniors and Vasco da Gama will meet again in continental competition after 25 years. The 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana Semi-finals will bring together two clubs whose paths crossed four times in 2001, across the CONMEBOL Libertadores and the Copa Mercosur. This time, they will compete for a place in the Final in Barranquilla in pursuit of ‘The Great Conquest’.
The head-to-head record favours the ‘Xeneize’, who remain unbeaten with two wins and two draws, having scored eight goals and conceded four. Boca also won the only knockout tie between the sides: the Quarter-finals of the 2001 CONMEBOL Libertadores, when they won both legs without conceding.
The opening chapter of that tie was played in Brazil, where a Boca side that had lifted the CONMEBOL Libertadores the previous year was building its path towards back-to-back titles. The ‘Xeneize’, coached by Carlos Bianchi, secured a 1-0 victory through a Guillermo Barros Schelotto goal. The result allowed Boca to return to Buenos Aires with a significant advantage, forcing Vasco to win at ‘La Bombonera’ to keep their campaign alive.
In the return leg, the Argentine side were ruthless. Within 30 minutes, they had built an emphatic 3-0 lead thanks to Aníbal Matellán and a Guillermo Barros Schelotto brace, sealing a 4-0 aggregate victory. That result remains the biggest winning margin recorded in meetings between the two clubs and completed a tie in which Boca demonstrated their strength both at home and away. They would go on to eliminate Palmeiras on penalties in the Semi-finals before lifting the continental trophy once again by defeating Cruz Azul in the Final.
The fixture list brought them together again later that same year, this time in the Copa Mercosur Group Stage. Both matches finished 2-2, first with Vasco as hosts and then with Boca at home. After a CONMEBOL Libertadores tie in which the Brazilian side had failed to score, the next two encounters produced eight goals and a share of the points on both occasions. Ultimately, neither side advanced to the next stage, with Cerro Porteño of Paraguay and Universidad Católica of Chile progressing from Group A.
Those draws brought to an end a run of four meetings packed into a single season. The two sides have not faced each other officially since. The CONMEBOL Sudamericana will now become the third continental competition to bring them together and the stage for their first-ever Semi-final tie.
Boca will host the first leg on 13 October, while Vasco will stage the return fixture on 20 October. The ‘Xeneize’ will look to extend their unbeaten record and repeat the qualification they achieved in 2001, while the Brazilian side will aim to claim their first victory in the fixture and change the outcome of their only previous knockout tie.
