Brazilian side ‘knocked out’ of Libertadores before it starts | OneFootball

São Paulo was rooting for Fluminense or Cruzeiro in the Copa do Brasil to go to the Libertadores, but teams were eliminated

The Brasileirão ended a week ago, but one team still held onto hope to qualify for the Libertadores: São Paulo. However, the hope of the São Paulo team ended this Sunday (14), with the eliminations of Cruzeiro and Fluminense in the Copa do Brasil.

The situation is simple to explain. São Paulo finished eighth in the Brasileirão, one position below the teams qualified for the Libertadores. Meanwhile, Cruzeiro and Fluminense finished in third and fifth positions, respectively. Therefore, if one of these two teams won the Copa do Brasil, it would open up another spot in the Libertadores for a team from the Brasileirão.

WHO ELIMINATED CRUZEIRO AND FLUMINENSE IN THE COPA DO BRASIL?

Despite São Paulo's expectations, the chances ended because Corinthians overcame Cruzeiro, and Vasco defeated Fluminense. A curious fact about the matches is that, in both semifinals, the decision for the spot happened in penalty shootouts.

WHO IS GOING TO THE LIBERTADORES?

Without São Paulo on the list, seven clubs from Brazil are already in the Libertadores 2026: Flamengo, Palmeiras, Cruzeiro, Mirassol, Fluminense, Botafogo, and Bahia. However, it is worth noting that the last two enter the preliminary phase before the group stage.

In addition to these teams, the winner of Corinthians vs. Vasco will also enter the group stage of the Libertadores 2026.

WHEN IS THE COPA DO BRASIL FINAL?

With the matchup set, Corinthians and Vasco will decide the Copa do Brasil in two games. The first takes place on Wednesday (17), at the Neo Quimica Arena. Subsequently, on Sunday (21), the teams meet again at Maracanã to decide the title. It is worth noting that there is no tiebreaker criterion, so in the event of any tie in the score, the decision goes to penalties.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.