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Copa Mercosur (English: Mercosur Cup, Portuguese: Copa Mercosul) was a football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by the traditional top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. The competition was created by CONMEBOL to generate TV money to the participating teams, but it went beyond and ended up as a natural replacement to CONMEBOL Cup. It was later replaced by Copa Sudamericana in 2002.

[edit] Format

Twenty teams played in the tournament. The teams were divided in five groups of four teams each and the matches were played in two legs. The group winners and the best three runners-up qualified for the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals, the semifinals were played in two legs. In 1998 and 2000 the finals were played in three legs. In 1999 and 2001 the finals were played in two legs.

[edit] Tournament results

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up
1998 Details	Palmeiras	1 - 2 (A) / 3 - 1 (H) Play-off: 1-0 (N)	Cruzeiro
1999 Details	Flamengo	4 - 3 (H) / 3 - 3 (A) Aggregate: 7-6	Palmeiras
2000 Details	Vasco da Gama	2 - 0 (H) / 0 - 1 (A) Play-off: 4-3 (A)	Palmeiras
2001 Details	San Lorenzo	0 - 0 (A) / 1 – 1 (H) Aggregate: 1-1 (4-3 p.k.)	Flamengo