María Morales scores twice as Deportivo Cali knock out Universidad de Chile 3-2 to reach the Libertadores quarter-finals

Deportivo Cali are back among South America's top eight. The Colombian side beat Universidad de Chile 3-2 on Thursday at the Estadio Banco Guayaquil in Quito, in the final round of Group D of the 2026 Copa Libertadores Femenina, and reached the quarter-finals with 7 points. For the Chileans, who needed a win, the result meant the end of their tournament.

Three goals in 35 minutes

The match was settled early. In the 7th minute, María Morales opened the scoring after a team move, and ten minutes later Ingrid Guerra outpaced two defenders to make it 2-0. On 35 minutes, Morales appeared in the box again, pounced on a rebound and made it 3-0, a scoreline that looked to have ended the contest.

But La U hit back before the break. In the 38th minute, Daniela Zamora pulled one back from the penalty spot, and a minute later a mistake by Cali's defence allowed the 3-2 they took into the dressing room. In the second half the Colombians controlled the game, and the Chileans, who finished with ten players after Claudia Herrera was sent off in the 88th minute following a VAR review, never found the equaliser.

Cali's path through the group

The team coached by Jhon Alber Ortiz closed the group stage unbeaten, with two wins and a draw:

• 1-1 against Libertad in the opener, playing with ten from the 11th minute after goalkeeper Maryory Sánchez was sent off, with Jessica Bermeo equalising in stoppage time.
• 2-0 against Nacional of Uruguay, with goals from Ingrid Guerra and Daniela Castellanos, in a match halted for more than an hour by an electrical storm.
• 3-2 against Universidad de Chile, with Morales' brace and Guerra's goal.

Cali arrive with serious pedigree: they were runners-up in 2025, when they lost the final on penalties to Corinthians, the team that has won the last three Libertadores.

Chile left without a team

Universidad de Chile picked up just one point from three matches: a 0-0 draw with Nacional, a 2-1 defeat to Libertad and the 3-2 loss to Cali. With Colo Colo already out in Group A, Chilean football will have no team in the quarter-finals.

The group's other ticket went to Libertad. The Paraguayans drew 2-2 with Nacional at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado, in a match delayed by an electrical storm while they were leading 2-0 after 29 minutes, and which the Uruguayans levelled in the second half. That point left Libertad second with 5 points, behind Cali (7) and ahead of Nacional (2) and La U (1).

What comes next

The quarter-finals are played on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October at the Estadio Banco Guayaquil. On Saturday, Corinthians face Independiente del Valle and Palmeiras take on Independiente Santa Fe. On Sunday, Cali, as Group D winners, will meet the Group C runners-up, to be decided on Thursday night: Cruzeiro, already through with 6 points, face Olimpia (4), while Bolívar (1) play LDU Quito. The semi-finals are on 28 October and the final on the 31st, at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado.

Sources: Dimayor, Infobae, BioBioChile, Contragolpe, El País (Cali), El Tiempo, Chilevisión, Las Futbolistas, La Magia Azul, 365Scores, Sofascore, FotMob.