Last weekend, I gave a broad overview of the state of a variety of leagues across the Americas. Starting this week, I want to be a bit more focused on the action in the leagues, with the goal of having a bit more detail on the results and week-to-week updates while still remaining fairly high-level. I posted about the leagues in North and Central America yesterday. Today, I will focus on South America.

Week 5 featured a tasty selection of fixtures, but the result of the week was definitely São Paulo’s 3-0 victory over Palmeiras. The hosts were the dominant side throughout, but the goal didn’t come until the second half, when Isa beat her defender and the on-rushing keeper to a 50/50 ball and scored the opener. This forced Palmeiras to get a bit more open as they sought an opener, and São Paulo were able to find two more goals on counters.

Cruzeiro’s win over Fluminense was a clash of two top-4 teams, and it didn’t disappoint. Of course, the match didn’t look like it would have much drama, as Cruzeiro jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. The pick of the goals -all nice- coming from Capelinha, as her rocket made the score 3-0 in the 37’. But Fluminense pushed the entire second half, and it looked like a first goal could open the flood gates. That opening goal did finally come in the 80’ when Fluminense captain Sochor headed in good cross. Time ultimately proved Fluminense’s wall, as they found a second in second-half stoppage time, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Highlight of the Week: The highlight of the week goes to Capelinha for her rocket of a goal for Cruzeiro that would ultimately prove to be the match winner.

The match result that stands out for week 6 is Corinthians’s 5-1 trouncing of Red Bull Bragantino. Corinthians getting a big win is not, itself, newsworthy, but they’ve had a slow start to the season, including a coaching replacement, so this strong result against a decent Bragantino side is a marker to take note of. With the other results, it’s also left Corinthians top of the table as we head to the international break.

São Paulo’s win over Atlético Mineiro is also worthy of note. Getting wins over Palmeiras and Atlético-MG in back-to-back matches is worthy of notice. São Paulo has some decent young talent. If they can get consistent performances out of this group, they could be a force this season.

Highlight of the Week: Corinthians’s victory was impressive, but I want to give recognition to Mixto goalkeeper, Nagila, who made a number of excellent saves to help her side earn a point in their 0-0 draw with Internacional.

It wasn’t that long ago, I was wondering if this would be a down season for Corinthians, and here we are a week later, and they’re top of the table. There is a lot of season left, but you have to wonder if their form is starting to catch up to their talent.

There were two big results from week 6. Santa Fe got the road win over América and Inter de Palmira upset Deportivo Cali, also on the road. Santa Fe beating América isn’t a major shock, itself, but the result certainly runs counter to how the two sides have started the season.

Inter de Palmira defeating Cali is definitely more surprising. Overall, the field tilted Cali’s direction, but Inter de Palmira were always a threat and had some stretches where they were the ascendant team. The goal is not the prettiest, but we you upset the defending champs on the road, I don’t think you care too much about the nature of the goal.

Finally, it’s worth noting Millonarios’s big win over Bucaramanga. The win isn’t surprising, but Millonarios are scoring goals. They are proving a side that can compete.

Highlight of the Week: For the highlight of the week, because they produced standout results, I’m going with the two match winners in the big Cali upsets: Francelis Graterol’s winner against América and Carina Montaño’s winner against Cali.

América looked unstoppable to start the season, and that quickly came to a halt. I don’t think we can say Santa Fe are back to being viable contenders, but this should lift their spirits heading into the break. Like Santa Fe, it really does seem the offseason departures at Cali have genuinely weakened the team. I don’t think the loss to Inter de Palmira should worry them too much, but I also struggle to see this side competing for the championship.

Atlético Nacional moves to the top of the table, and I’m curious to see if they can stay there. I don’t think it is beyond them to snag the title this season. Based on the early season , Nacional and América seem the most well-rounded of the front runners, so I’d suspect it’s between them, but there are a lot of matches to be played.

Perhaps the most significant result is Boca getting their first win of the season. It was a surprisingly dominant road win over 2025 Apertura winners, Newell’s Old Boys. NOB scored a second half goal, but it flatters the hosts, who were defending most of the match.

River, Racing Club, and Belgrano have all continued their perfect start to the season. A Camila López brace helped San Lorenzo keep pace with the front runners. Not a lot of surprise from week 3.

Highlight of the Week: Despite the heavy defeat, the highlight of the week goes to Unión‘s Emilse Albornos, who scored an absolute peach of a goal to upload some of the honor in her side’s loss to River Plate.

Gimnasia La Plata had a good 2025 Apertura, finishing 4th, but their 2025 Clausura was less to write home about. They’ve been good in the early going, but they’ve really not played anyone likely to challenge for the title. It will be interesting to see if they can remain higher on the table as the season progresses. Overall, we’re 3 matches in, so it’s hard to conclude much at this point.

First, Espuce has also been going by SD Quito this season. Like Quito FC, who went by Vinotinto last season, Espuce/SD Quito has rebranded for the season. I believe it is because two clubs are merging.

As far as the action goes, Universidad Católica got their first win of the season. It is only their second match, so they have a couple games in hand as well. Emelec started the season well, but always looked like they’d struggle against the better teams, and the loss to Independiente del Valle confirmed that.

Highlight of the Week: In honor of two of the standouts from the U20 South American Championships, the highlight of the week will be Rosa Flores’s backheel assist to Maritxell Cazares, who scored Liga de Quito’s 4th goal against Carneras.

One quick note: it appears ECDF - El Canal del Fútbol either didn’t stream or lost the rights to the Superliga Femenina for the week 6 and week 7 matches. I am guessing it was an oversight, as the there were no highlights either until one week 7 highlight was posted on April 9. Hopefully this is a brief error, because I would be sad if they stop streaming the Superliga Femenina.

I can’t tell you much about the quality of play, but Liga de Quito’s 10 goal trouncing of Emelec is certainly of note. Perhaps most impressively, LDU Quito had 9 goal scorers in that match. Just about everyone got on the scoresheet.

Barcelona also continue their strong start with 5-0 win over Quito FC.

The result of the week, however, is newly promoted Carneras getting their first win of the season. In matches against stronger teams, they were outplayed but held their own. It seemed a win was coming, and they notched it, impressively, on the road.

Highlight of the Week: No highlights, but here’s the league’s insta post with the result of Carneras’s first win.

Carneras notched their second win of the season before the international break. Universidad Católica had to overcome a first-half deficit in their match against Quito FC, but they came back to earn a 3-1 win. Frankly, they should have won by more.

After scoring 15 goals over their previous two outings, Liga de Quito scored a rather pedestrian 2 goals against Deportivo Ibarra. Last year’s runners up look very strong in the opening part of the season.

Highlight of the Week: There was only the one match with highlights, but Universidad Católica delivered a good one. Jackeline Velasquez scored the opener of Universidad Católica with a nice shot from distance.

Last season’s finalists are certainly out to a strong start. They’ve put up large numbers of goals in the early season. Barcelona and Universidad Católica are also very much in the hunt. Barcelona’s Madelen Riera tops the golden boot race with 6 goals. This is definitely a four-horse race, but I don’t think we can confidently put a bet on the likely winner yet.

Week 3 didn’t turn up any surprises, as Colo-Colo, Universdad de Chile, and Universidad Católica kept their perfect starts going. Unión Española are one of the teams that can cause upsets. You’d expect Colo-Colo to beat them at home, but in the early stages of the season, this could have been a tricky fixture that was easily handled.

Highlight of the Week: It wasn’t necessarily the most consequential goal of the week, though it did earn her side a point. But Bárbara Koster’s header for Coquimbo Unido is just a textbook aggressive, snapping header.

The big match this was, of course, the Clásico Universitario between Uni. de Chile and Uni. Católica. Along with being one of the bigger rivalries in Chilean soccer, the match marked the debut of the Liga Femenina being broadcast on Mega. The hosts were the dominant team and controlled the match. The standout performance coming from La U’s Daniela Zamora, who scored all three goals for her side. For their part, despite being second best, Católica could have stolen a point if they had been more clinical with their chances. They were able to generate a few very dangerous chance, but they failed to put them away until their consolation goal in the 70’.

Elsewhere, results tracked as expected. Colo-Colo got a comfortable win over Wanderers, and clubs like Coquimbo and Unión Española showed they’ll surely be in a top 8 spot for the playoffs.

Highlight of the Week: If you score a hattrick against your rival, you get to be the highlight of the week. All three of Daniela Zamora’s goals for Universidad de Chile.

Last season Colo-Colo had a perfect season. They won every league match, and they reached the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores. It’s hard to see them fading considering they have kept the key components of last season’s squad. Maybe not a perfect season, but they’ve got to be favorites. Still, I’m intrigued by this Universidad de Chile side. Don’t get me wrong, Chile is a two-horse race. It will be one of these two, but I wouldn’t have predicted LaU being a genuine contender with the conclusion of last season. Early signs through? They might be.

Melgar got their first win of the early season, and Sporting Cristal continued their strong start to the season. Alianza Lima put up the result of the week, and CA Mannucci came out on top of a barn burner with FC Killas.

Highlight of the Week: 16 year old Aldana ‘Lupita’ Rodríguez is considered a potential future star for Peru, and she scored her first league goal for Alianza Lima in their win over Flamengo. It wasn’t the flashiest goal, but who cares. Let’s celebrate the start of what will hopefully be a successful career.

Universitario have made the biggest splash to start the season. They only have two matches played, but they’ve been dominant wins. In Peru, the top 6 advance to the playoffs with the top 2 getting a bye to the semifinal round. Alianza Lima and Universitario are the favorites for the top 2 spots, but I’m curious if Sporting Cristal can play spoiler this season.