The 2023 Copa Uruguay (officially known as Copa AUF Uruguay 2023), is the second edition of the Copa Uruguay, the country's national football cup tournament. The tournament began on 21 August and will have 80 teams participating.^[1] It was originally scheduled to end on 10 December 2023, but the tournament was paused at the round of 16 and will resume in January 2024 due to a players strike in Uruguayan football,^[2] ending on 17 April 2024.^[3]

Defensor Sporting are the defending champions.

Format

The competition is divided into eight stages, with ties in all stages to be played over a single match. The preliminary round was contested by 24 clubs from the Organización del Fútbol del Interior (OFI), four Divisional D (fourth tier) clubs, and 20 teams from the Primera División Amateur, with 12 OFI clubs and 12 AUF ones advancing to the first round where the OFI clubs were drawn against the AUF ones, and matches were hosted by six OFI clubs and six AUF clubs. The 12 winners from the first round were joined by 12 teams from the Segunda División in the second round, except for Tacuarembó and Oriental, champion and runner-up of the previous Primera División Amateur season. The 12 first round winners hosted their match in this round, and the 12 winners moved into the third round.^[1]

32 teams played in the third round: 12 winners from the previous phase, 16 professional teams from the Primera División, the defending champion and runner-up of the Primera División Amateur and the defending champion and runner-up of the Copa Nacional de Clubes (Central and Universitario). The 16 Primera División clubs played their match in this round away. From this point onwards, the winners will play against each other in single-legged knockout phases, with the semi-finals and the final to be played on neutral ground. The final is planned to be played at a stadium outside of Montevideo where no professional activity is being held, unless it is played by Nacional and Peñarol, in which case it will be played at Estadio Centenario.^[4]

Starting from this edition, the winners of the competition are expected to qualify for the Supercopa Uruguaya.^[5] They will also be awarded a US$ 120,000 prize to be spent on club infrastructure. The amateur club that advances the furthest in the competition will be awarded US$50,000 for the same purpose. These monetary prizes will not accumulate in the event an amateur club wins the competition.^[1]

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows:^[6]

Qualified teams

The following teams entered the competition. Primera División Amateur teams Artigas, Deportivo Colonia, Huracán, and Mar de Fondo declined to participate.^[8]

Draw

The draw of the competition was held on 16 August 2023, at the Artigas Theater in Trinidad, Flores Department. The preliminary round was divided into two zones: in the AUF zone, teams playing in the third and fourth tier were drawn against each other into 12 ties, whilst in the OFI zone, the 24 teams entering were also divided into four zones according to geographical criteria: Litoral, Central/South, Central/East, and East, and then drawn against a team in their geographical zone.^[7]

Preliminary stage

First round

Second round

Bracket

Third round

Round of 16

See also

• 2023 Uruguayan Primera División season
• 2023 Uruguayan Segunda División season

References