The 1997 edition of Copa Libertadores was won by Cruzeiro of Brazil, after defeating Sporting Cristal of Peru in the final. This was Cruzeiro's second title, their first being the 1976 edition. Cruzeiro's 1997 championship is the only time any club has won the Libertadores after losing the first 3 matches in the competition.

Association	Team (Berth)	Entry stage	Qualification method
Argentina 2+1 berths	River Plate (Argentina 1)	Round of 16	1996 Copa Libertadores champions
	Vélez Sarsfield (Argentina 2)	Group stage	1995 Apertura, 1996 Clausura champions
	Racing (Argentina 3)		1995 Apertura runners-up
Bolivia 2 berths	Bolívar (Bolivia 1)	Group stage	1996 Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano champions
	Oriente Petrolero (Bolivia 2)		1996 Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano runners-up
Brazil 2 berths	Grêmio (Brazil 1)	Group stage	1996 Brasileirão Série A champions
	Cruzeiro (Brazil 2)		1996 Copa do Brasil champions
Chile 2 berths	Colo-Colo (Chile 1)	Group stage	1996 Primera División of Chile champions
	Universidad Católica (Chile 2)		1996 Liguilla para Copa Libertadores winners
Colombia 2 berths	Deportivo Cali (Colombia 1)	Group stage	1995–96 Categoría Primera A champions
	Millonarios (Colombia 2)		1995–96 Categoría Primera A runners-up
Ecuador 2 berths	El Nacional (Ecuador 1)	Group stage	1996 Serie A de Ecuador champions
	Emelec (Ecuador 2)		1996 Serie A de Ecuador runners-up
Paraguay 2 berths	Cerro Porteño (Paraguay 1)	Group stage	1996 Primera División champions
	Guaraní (Paraguay 2)		1996 Primera División runners-up
Peru 2 berths	Sporting Cristal (Peru 1)	Group stage	1996 Torneo Descentralizado champions
	Alianza Lima (Peru 2)		1996 Liguilla para Copa Libertadores winners
Uruguay 2 berths	Nacional (Uruguay 1)	Group stage	1996 Liguilla para Copa Libertadores winners
	Peñarol (Uruguay 2)		1996 Liguilla para Copa Libertadores play-off winners
Venezuela 2 berths	Minervén (Venezuela 1)	Group stage	1995–96 Primera División champions
	Mineros de Guayana (Venezuela 2)		1995–96 Primera División runners-up

River Plate bye to the second round as holders.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Bolívar	6	3	1	2	15	10	+5	10
2	Oriente Petrolero	6	2	2	2	9	10	−1	8
3	Guaraní	6	2	2	2	8	11	−3	8
4	Cerro Porteño	6	2	1	3	7	8	−1	7

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vélez Sársfield	6	4	1	1	10	5	+5	13
2	El Nacional	6	3	0	3	5	7	−2	9
3	Racing	6	2	1	3	7	7	0	7
4	Emelec	6	1	2	3	7	10	−3	5

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Colo-Colo	6	5	1	0	12	4	+8	16
2	Universidad Católica	6	2	2	2	15	6	+9	8
3	Minervén	6	2	1	3	3	9	−6	7
4	Mineros de Guayana	6	0	2	4	2	13	−11	2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Grêmio	6	4	0	2	10	3	+7	12
2	Cruzeiro	6	3	0	3	6	5	+1	9
3	Sporting Cristal	6	2	2	2	4	5	−1	8
4	Alianza Lima	6	1	2	3	2	9	−7	5

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Peñarol	6	4	0	2	12	10	+2	12
2	Millonarios	6	3	1	2	10	8	+2	10
3	Nacional	6	2	1	3	6	9	−3	7
4	Deportivo Cali	6	1	2	3	9	10	−1	5

	Round of 16						Quarterfinals						Semifinals						Final
	River Plate	3	1	4 (3)
	Racing	3	1	4 (5)
							Racing	0	1	1 (3)
							Peñarol	1	0	1 (2)
	Peñarol	0	3	3 (3)
	Millonarios	2	1	3 (2)
													Racing	3	1	4
													Sporting Cristal	2	4	6
	Vélez Sarsfield	0	0	0
	Sporting Cristal	0	1	1
							Sporting Cristal	1	3	4
							Bolívar	2	0	2
	Bolívar	1	7	8
	Minervén	1	0	1
																			Sporting Cristal	0	0	0
																			Cruzeiro	0	1	1
	Cruzeiro	0	2	2 (5)
	El Nacional	1	1	2 (3)
							Cruzeiro	2	1	3
							Grêmio	0	2	2
	Grêmio	1	2	3 (2)
	Guaraní	2	1	3 (1)
													Cruzeiro	1	2	3 (4)
													Colo-Colo	0	3	3 (1)
	Colo-Colo	3	1	4
	Nacional	1	2	3
							Colo-Colo	1	3	4
							U. Católica	2	1	3
	Oriente Petrolero	0	1	1
	U. Católica	4	5	9

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Racing	4-4 (5-3p)	River Plate	3-3	1-1
Sporting Cristal	1-0	Vélez Sársfield	0-0	1-0
Guaraní	3-3 (1-2p)	Grêmio	2-1	1-2
Minervén	1-8	Bolívar	1-1	0-7
Millonarios	3-3 (2-3p)	Peñarol	2-0	1-3
Universidad Católica	9-1	Oriente Petrolero	4-0	5-1
Nacional	3-4	Colo-Colo	1-3	2-1
El Nacional	2-2 (3-5p)	Cruzeiro	1-0	1-2

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bolívar	2-4	Sporting Cristal	2-1	0-3
Universidad Católica	3-4	Colo-Colo	2-1	1-3
Cruzeiro	3-2	Grêmio	2-0	1-2
Peñarol	1-1 (2-3p)	Racing	1-0	0-1

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Cruzeiro	3-3 (4-1p)	Colo-Colo	1-0	2-3
Racing	4-6	Sporting Cristal	3-2	1-4

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Sporting Cristal	0-1	Cruzeiro	0-0	0-1

Copa Libertadores 1997
Cruzeiro Second title

11 goals

• Alberto Acosta

9 goals

• Antonio Vidal González

8 goals

• Ivo Basay

• Latin America: Sportsnet, TSN, TVC Sports, Cable Mágico Deportes and Best Cable Sports
• Caribbean: Flow Sports
• Peru: Global Televisión

• Copa Libertadores 1997 by Karel Stokkermans at RSSSF