São Paulo fall to Cruzeiro, lose Copinha final at Pacaembu | OneFootball

São Paulo found a worthy rival in this 2026 Copinha, fought and battled hard until the end, but ended up defeated in the grand final of the under-20 tournament by 2-1 to Cruzeiro on Sunday morning (25), at Arena Pacaembu, which welcomed a good crowd of 16,922 people.

The Cruzeiro team was superior for most of the final and deserved the title. They took the lead, conceded the equalizer still in the first half, but stayed strong to score the second goal and secure the victory in the country’s main youth tournament.

THRILLING FROM THE START

Just 2 minutes in, the first scare. Gabriel received a cross in the middle of the box, controlled it, turned on the defender, and shot, but the ball went wide to the left, threatening the Tricolor’s goal.

São Paulo tried to respond, but the team from Minas kept attacking, not giving Tricolor much time to breathe at Pacaembu. After so much persistence, Cruzeiro opened the scoring.

After a series of consecutive corners, goalkeeper João Pedro came out poorly on a very tight delivery, and William took advantage to head firmly at the far post and make it 1-0 for Cruzeiro, 11 minutes into the final.

Tetê gave a good response at 15’, making a great individual play and shooting hard for a good save by the rival goalkeeper. The game was end-to-end, with both sides refusing to give up attacking with speed.

Tricolor continued to struggle during the first half with the opponent’s strong pace, but improved their defensive focus and cleared Cruzeiro’s main dangerous plays. At 44’, Rayan broke through one-on-one with the São Paulo goal, but goalkeeper João Pedro made a beautiful save with his feet.

FIGHT UNTIL THE END

But the valiant São Paulo almost equalized at the end of the first half. Igor Felisberto shot from distance, the goalkeeper spilled it, Gustavo Santana struck first-time, but the keeper performed a miracle to prevent the Paulista goal. But it came soon after.

In the air, Isac, a standout defender in this Copinha, took advantage of Santana’s setup and pushed it into the net to tie the final at 1-1 and head into halftime full of confidence.

RIVAL REMAINS BETTER

Cruzeiro returned with the same intense pace, creating the main dangerous chances against the São Paulo goal. Tricolor sought out their top scorer Paulinho, who was especially threatening in aerial balls.

At 28 minutes into the second half, Gustavinho, who had just come on for the rival, took a chance from outside the box and scored a screamer for Cruzeiro to make it 2-1.

LEFT WITH A BITTER TASTE…

In the next play, the referee awarded a penalty to São Paulo! Paulinho received the ball, entered the box, and was brought down on the line. However, the VAR booth reviewed the play and signaled the foul was outside the area. Felisberto took the free kick well, but the Minas goalkeeper parried it. Soon after, Tricolor lost their main attacking threat. Paulinho felt pain and had to be substituted.

São Paulo was left with one less player in the final minutes of the decision, with another injury to Felipe and no more substitutions available. Relying only on grit and determination, they sought the equalizer, but couldn’t get the result and had to settle for the runner-up spot.

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