2023 Copa Paraguay

The 2023 Copa Paraguay was the fifth edition of the Copa Paraguay, Paraguay's domestic football cup competition organized by the Paraguayan Football Association (APF). The competition began on 18 April and ended on 2 December 2023, with the winners qualifying for the 2023 Supercopa Paraguay against the Primera División champions with better record in the aggregate table.

Libertad were the champions, claiming their second Copa Paraguay title by beating Sportivo Trinidense on penalty kicks after a 1–1 draw in the final. As winners, Libertad were entitled to earn a berth into the 2024 Copa Libertadores, however since both finalists qualified for that competition via league performance, that berth was awarded to the third-placed team, Nacional.

Sportivo Ameliano were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Sportivo Trinidense in the quarter-finals.

Format

Although the Copa Paraguay kept the number of participating clubs and format used in 2022, the Paraguayan Football Association (APF) confirmed that starting from this edition, the champions will qualify for the following year's Copa Libertadores, taking the ''Paraguay 4'' berth in the competition, except if they have already qualified via league performance or play in a tier other than Primera División, in which case that right will go to the cup runners-up or third-placed team (or best-placed team in the Primera División's aggregate table if the runners-up or third-placed team also meet any of those conditions, in that order).

For the first stage, the Football Union of the Interior (UFI) clubs were paired according to their geographical location into seven single-legged ties and a triangular group with the remaining three teams, with the winners of the seven ties and the top two teams of the triangular advancing to the next round. The 17 Primera B clubs were drawn in a similar arrangement to the UFI zone except that the ties were decided by a draw, while the 12 Primera C clubs were drawn into six single-legged ties. Nine Primera B teams, six Primera C ones, and nine UFI ones advanced to the next round, where they were joined by the 16 División Intermedia clubs. The 40 clubs competing in the second stage were drawn into 20 single-legged ties, with the winners advancing to the third stage where they were drawn against the 12 Primera División clubs. The 16 third stage winners will advance to the round of 16. Ties in all rounds will be played on a single-legged basis, with a penalty shootout deciding the winner in case of a draw.

Teams

The 2023 edition will have a total of 74 participating teams:

;Primera División

* Cerro Porteño
* General Caballero (JLM)
* Guaireña
* Guaraní
* Libertad
*Nacional
* Olimpia
* Resistencia
*Sportivo Ameliano
* Sportivo Luqueño
*Sportivo Trinidense
* Tacuary

;División Intermedia

* 2 de Mayo
* 3 de Febrero (CDE)
* 12 de Octubre (I)
* 24 de Setiembre (VP)
* Atlético Colegiales
*Atyrá
*Deportivo Recoleta
*Deportivo Santaní
* Fernando de la Mora
* Independiente (CG)
* Martín Ledesma
* Pastoreo
* Rubio Ñu
*San Lorenzo
* Sol de América
* Sportivo Carapeguá

;Primera B

* 3 de Febrero (RB)
*3 de Noviembre
* 29 de Setiembre
* Atlántida
*Benjamín Aceval
* Cristóbal Colón (JAS)
* Cristóbal Colón (Ñ)
*Deportivo Capiatá
* General Díaz
* Humaitá
* Olimpia (Itá)
* Presidente Hayes
* River Plate
*Silvio Pettirossi
* Sportivo Iteño
* Sportivo Limpeño
* Tembetary

;Primera C

*1° de Marzo (FDM)
* 12 de Octubre (SD)
*Atlético Juventud
* Capitán Figari
* Fulgencio Yegros
*General Caballero (CG)
* General Caballero (ZC)
*Oriental
*Pilcomayo
*Sport Colombia
*Sport Colonial
*Valois Rivarola

;UFI
The champions from each of the 17 departments of Paraguay qualified for the competition:

* Sport Santa Cecilia ( Concepción)
* 14 de Mayo (C) ( San Pedro)
* Teniente Brozzon ( Cordillera)
* Cerro Porteño (M) ( Guairá)
* Universidad Católica ( Caaguazú)
* 14 de Mayo (FY) (Caazapá)
* Sportivo San Pedro ( Itapúa)
* Libertad (SP) (Misiones)
* Sol de Mayo ( Paraguarí)
* Guaraní (MG) (Alto Paraná)
* Unión Ybyraró (Central)
* 1° de Marzo (P) ( Ñeembucú)
* Atlético Amambay ( Amambay)
* General Caballero (K) ( Canindeyú)
* Independiente (N) ( Presidente Hayes)
* Cerro Porteño (F) ( Boquerón)
* Sport Hernancito (Alto Paraguay)

First stage

The draw for the first stage was held on 24 March 2023 and matches were played from 18 April to 24 May 2023.

Triangular groups

Primera B

UFI

Second stage

The schedule for the second round was announced by the APF on 26 May 2023. Matches in this round were played from 6 to 22 June 2023.

Bracket

Third stage

The schedule for the first third stage matches was announced by the APF on 5 July 2023. Matches in this round were played from 11 July to 16 August 2023.

Round of 16

The schedule for the first round of 16 matches was announced by the APF on 14 September 2023. Matches in this round were played from 19 to 28 September 2023.

Quarter-finals

The schedule for the quarter-final matches was confirmed by the APF on 6 October 2023. Matches in this round were played from 11 to 26 October 2023.

Semi-finals

The schedule for the semi-final matches was confirmed by the APF on 30 October 2023. Matches in this round were played on 8 and 9 November 2023.

Third place play-off

Final

On 23 October 2023, the APF announced that the final would be played at Estadio Parque del Guairá in Villarrica. The match, originally scheduled for 29 November 2023, was later rescheduled to 2 December 2023 due to adverse weather conditions.

See also

*2023 Paraguayan Primera División season
*2023 Paraguayan División Intermedia

References

External links

Copa Paraguay
on the official website of the Paraguayan Football Association

{{2023 in South American football (CONMEBOL)

Copa Paraguay
Copa