Santos U20s back from friendlies, start Copinha preparations | OneFootball

The Santos under-20 squad reported back this Tuesday at CT Rei Pelé and began preparations for the 2026 São Paulo Junior Football Cup, the most traditional youth competition in the country.

The Meninos da Vila returned from competing in the International Premier Tournament, a friendly competition held in Mexico, which also featured some players from the professional squad, such as Luisão and Andrey Quintino. Peixe finished the campaign with two losses and one draw.

Before that, the Santos under-20 team won the Paulista Championship for the category. After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Peixe was trailing 3-0 in the return match, but fought back and took the decision to penalties. In the shootout, the Santos team emerged victorious by 4-3.

Now, the Santos squad will begin preparations for the 2026 Copinha. The club, however, has not yet released the list of players registered for the tournament. Each team can register up to 40 players.

Santos’ Group in the Copinha

Santos is in Group 16 of the Copinha, based in São Carlos, in the interior of São Paulo (SP). The Alvinegro Praiano will face Grêmio São Carlense (SP), Real Brasília (DF), and União Cacoalense (RO).

The 56th edition of the Copinha will be held from January 2 to 25, in the city of São Paulo. The grand final is scheduled for the anniversary of the city of São Paulo (SP). The 2026 competition will feature three new host cities and 23 debuting clubs.

The clubs will face each other in a single round, and the top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage. In the knockout rounds, matches are also single elimination. If the match ends in a draw in regular time, the decision will go to penalties.

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