Qualification Teams did not directly qualify for this competition through their national leagues. Participation was based solely on invitation.
Tournament The 1998 and 1999 editions were played with twelve teams of the five corresponding
CONMEBOL nations. The twelve teams were divided into three groups and each team meets the others in its group home and away in a round-robin format. The group winners and the best runner-up advanced to a semifinal stage. The semifinals were played over two legs and the winners advanced to the finals which were also played over two legs. In 1999, the Bolivian teams played a qualifying playoff before the first phase of Copa Merconorte. The 2000 and 2001 editions were expanded to sixteen teams and divided into four groups. With the expansion of another group, only the group winners advanced to the semifinals.
Distribution The invitations and distribution of berths over the four seasons were as follows. ==Records and statistics==