Boca has four paths back to the 2027 Libertadores after missing out in 2026

Boca will not play in the Libertadores group stage in 2026. That much is already sealed after a group stage to forget this year. But the club from La Ribera isn't giving up, and it still has, no less, four open paths back to South America's most important tournament in 2027. The question is which of them is the most realistic.

The Annual Table, a race against the clock

The first path runs through the Annual Table of Argentine soccer, the one that adds up points from the Apertura and the Clausura. There, Boca sits sixth with 37 points, and the goal is to finish among the top three. It doesn't look like an impossible mission: the club is just three points behind Velez, currently in third place. That said, there are ten matchdays left, and a couple of teams in between are also fighting for that spot. It's worth noting the reward isn't the same for everyone: the top two in the table go straight into the group stage, while the third-place finisher has to start a round earlier, in Phase 2 of the Libertadores.

The Clausura, a tight tournament where there's still room

The second route is winning the Clausura tournament, something that looked far off in the early matchdays. Boca is 11th in Zone A with 7 points after six games, a slow start given the expectations around Miguel Angel Russo's team. Even so, the tournament is so tightly bunched that those same 7 points are enough right now to be among the teams qualifying for the round of 16. Ten matchdays remain in the regular phase, which has 16 in total, before the knockout rounds begin, where the best-placed teams will have home advantage through the semifinals.

The Sudamericana, a growing ambition

The third path carries a special twist: Boca started the year dreaming of a seventh Copa Libertadores and ended up leaning hard into the Sudamericana. Along the way it struggled to eliminate O'Higgins and then routed Deportivo Recoleta. Now, in the quarterfinals, Sao Paulo awaits, a heavyweight opponent. If Boca advances, it could face Vasco da Gama or Independiente Santa Fe, the Colombian side that knocked out River, in the semifinals. The prize for the Sudamericana champion, a title Boca already won in 2004 and 2005, is a direct spot in the 2027 Libertadores group stage.

The Copa Argentina, the fourth door

The fourth path is the Copa Argentina, where Boca eliminated Gimnasia de Chivilcoy and Sarmiento de Junin, and will now face Velez in the round of 16. If it gets past that tie, the winner of Racing versus Belgrano would be waiting. As with the Sudamericana, winning the domestic cup would hand Boca a direct berth in next year's Libertadores group stage.

Four fronts, one shared goal. Arruabarrena and his squad know that any of these paths will do, and that in some cases they can even overlap. What's clear is that after this season's continental frustration, nobody at Boca wants to miss out on the tournament that means the most to its fans two years in a row.