1960 Copa Libertadores
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 19 - June 19 |
| Teams | 7 (from 7 confederations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Peñarol (1st title)
|
| Runners-up |
 Olimpia
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Goals scored | 39 (3 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
 Alberto Spencer (7 goals) |
The 1960 Copa de Campeones de América was the first season of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier club tournament. Seven association's clubs entered the first competition, with three not sending a representative. The first match of the tournament was played between Uruguayan side Peñarol and Bolivian side Jorge Wilstermann on April 19 in Montevideo, Uruguay.
During that game, Ausberto García of Jorge Wilstermann became the first player to move the ball in the tournament setting the motions for what is to become one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. Carlos Borges of Peñarol scored the first goal of the tournament, with teammate and legendary figure Alberto Spencer scoring the first hat-trick.
Peñarol would go to become the first South American club champion after defeating the Olimpia in the finals. With the subsequent results on later editions, Peñarol became the most successful club in the competition until 1973.
CONMEBOL, the governing body of the sport in South America, had been formed in 1916, but for the first forty-three years of its existence, its member associations played only friendly matches against each other, with no prizes at stake. In 1958, however, José Ramos de Freitas, the confederation's president, finally set into motion a competition open to all national champions of the continent, with a trophy to be awarded to the winners. The South American Championship of Champions was the inspiration for the idea to take fruit and formation. Although all national association's champions were eligible to participate, only seven chose to do so: Bahia of Brazil, Jorge Wilstermann of Bolivia, Millonarios of Colombia, Olimpia of Paraguay, Peñarol of Uruguay, San Lorenzo of Argentina and Universidad de Chile of Chile. Peru and Venezuela did not send their respective national league champions since the tournament received general lack of interest from its associations, and Ecuador did not have a national champion to send. The first edition of the Copa de Campeones aroused no great accompaniment to the press particularly in Pacific Rim countries and in Brazil and Argentina.
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