Boca falls 1-0 to Vasco da Gama and now must win in Brazil, something it hasn't done in eleven games

Same old story. Boca played at La Bombonera, had the crowd behind them, and still walked away with a loss in a game they needed to win. The 1-0 defeat to Vasco da Gama in the first leg of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana semifinal leaves the team backed into a corner ahead of the trip to Rio de Janeiro, and to make matters worse, that trip brings back memories Boca would rather forget.

Because if there's one stat causing concern in the La Boca neighborhood, it's this: Boca hasn't won in Brazil in eleven games. You have to go back to December 2020 for the last happy result, a 1-0 win over Internacional de Porto Alegre in the round of 16 of the Libertadores, with a goal from Carlos Tevez, who celebrated that goal with a tribute to Diego Maradona, who had just passed away. That was nearly six years ago.

Since then, the numbers are brutal: seven losses and four draws across those eleven matchups. That stretch includes the still-painful 2023 Libertadores final that slipped away against Fluminense. The only recent silver lining was the draw against Sao Paulo in the quarterfinals of this same Sudamericana, a result that was enough to send Boca through to the semis. But now a draw won't cut it: Boca has to win in Rio de Janeiro if it wants even a chance to stretch the series to penalties.

A history that weighs heavy

Looking back at recent trips to Brazil doesn't offer much comfort. Boca fell 3-0 to Santos in the 2020 Libertadores semifinal and then lost 1-0 to the same rival in the 2021 group stage. The team was also eliminated on penalties by Atletico Mineiro, suffered two defeats to Corinthians in 2022, and on top of the lost final to Fluminense, there's also the 4-2 loss to Fortaleza and the penalty-shootout elimination against Cruzeiro in the 2024 Sudamericana. To round things out, this very year Boca already lost 1-0 to Cruzeiro in the 2026 Libertadores.

Here's a detail worth noting: Boca is the Argentine club with the most road wins in Brazil, yet in its entire history in the Sudamericana it has never managed to win there. The club has played seven matches in this competition on Brazilian soil, with two draws and five losses, a tally that includes defeats to Internacional in 2004 and 2008, Sao Paulo in 2007, and the more recent losses to Fortaleza and Cruzeiro.

Now the challenge is to break that streak right when it matters most. Boca will travel to Rio de Janeiro knowing a win sends them to the final, but also knowing recent history is working against them. The draw against Sao Paulo showed the team can hold its own in Brazil; what it hasn't managed in a long time is to win when it truly counts.