River Plate and Santa Fe drew 1-1 after extra time in their Copa Sudamericana round of 16 tie at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti on 27 August 2026, before settling matters in a penalty shootout that saw the hosts advance.
Santiago Driussi gave River Plate the lead in the 52nd minute, and he was substituted himself two minutes later. Facundo Fagundez added a second penalty in the 80th minute after the visitors had made three changes in quick succession. The match had the look of one where the home side would control proceedings, and by then the statistics were telling the same story.
River Plate dominated possession at 72 per cent, registering 11 shots on target against Santa Fe's four. Their expected goals figure of 2.58 sat comfortably above the visitors' 1.29, and they created three big chances compared to just one for the away side. But the shootout would prove far more unpredictable than the match statistics suggested.
What followed was a marathon at the spot-kick spot. River Plate's Emiliano Olivera and Lucas Martinez Quarta missed, while Santa Fe saw Fernando Gonzalez, Jhonny Torres, and Sebastian Beltran fail to convert. The shootout stretched beyond eleven rounds before a winner emerged, each side taking turns to either fire home or find the woodwork.
River Plate's victory moves them further clear at the top of their group, where they sit on 14 points from six matches with four wins and two draws. They had drawn 0-0 with Santa Fe earlier in August, so this result provides a clear path forward in the competition.