Vitória Cup: São Paulo await Crespo’s nod and Libertadores spot | OneFootball

São Paulo is one of the clubs currently negotiating participation in the 2026 edition of the so-called Vitória Cup, a competition that is actually a series of friendlies between Brazilian and foreign clubs, which was held in the capital of Espírito Santo (hence the name) this year.

The information was initially published by the portal ‘Arquibancada Tricolor‘ and confirmed by sources within São Paulo’s upper management to AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR throughout this Tuesday (18).

According to the report, the club’s participation is not being treated with much optimism. In fact, a final decision will only be made after the current Brazilian Championship ends, when the team will know whether or not it will play in the preliminary phase of the Copa Libertadores.

Besides that, coach Hernán Crespo will have a fundamental say in the decision, since the promise is for a hectic schedule next year due to changes promoted by the CBF and the start of the Campeonato Paulista already scheduled for the second week of January.

In other words, as the report found, São Paulo is considering the Vitória Cup as an alternative source of revenue for the middle of next year, when the Brazilian and continental calendars will pause for the World Cup.

But what exactly is the Vitória Cup, which proclaims itself on its official website as “the country’s biggest pre-season tournament”?

Initially, it was a series of matches between Brazilian and Argentine teams, with its first edition held this year, between June and July, taking advantage of the break in competitions for the Club World Cup.

You probably didn’t hear much about it because only Cruzeiro and Santos participated as major teams. Besides the team from Minas Gerais, the Argentine clubs Defensa y Justicia and Banfield took part, as well as Desportiva Ferroviária, the local team and the event organizer, Vinícius Domingues.

Well, to the portal ‘Máquina do Esporte’, Domingues revealed that he incurred a loss of R$ 400,000. But he promises big and bold changes for 2026. He claims to have national and foreign investors and almost R$ 30 million in capital to be spent over the next five years.

Among what seem like the dreams of an enthusiastic businessman, some topics raised by Domingues deserve a bit of attention.

The main one, and the most feasible, is how the Vitória Cup will be organized. The plan is to hold at least 12 friendly matches: six in January, six in July. It’s not a competition, but rather a series of individual matches with a trophy at stake. In the matches at the beginning of the year, the expectation is for Brazilians to face South Americans. During the World Cup, it will be national teams against Europeans.

On the official website, the participation of Santos, Botafogo, Cruzeiro, and Santa Cruz is confirmed among the Brazilian teams. And among the foreigners: Olimpia (Paraguay), Vélez Sarsfield, Defensa y Justicia (Argentina), Sporting Cristal (Peru), and the European Villarreal (Spain). The promise is that all participants will be revealed on December 8.

“The idea, at this first moment, is not to bring in the big powerhouses, but good-level teams, like Sevilla and Valencia. In Portugal, we might get Benfica or Porto,” said Domingues. For January, the idea is to replay Libertadores finals, always with a Brazilian team and another South American.

The second aspect that draws our attention is the CEO’s statement practically guaranteeing Morumbi as a venue for matches. By saying “affirm,” he has already secured São Paulo’s home ground. This increases speculation about São Paulo’s participation.

Aside from that, there’s a lot of talk from Domingues. Promises that sound extravagant, to be honest, such as buying the SAF of a team. Recently, they even announced that they will sponsor Botafogo starting next year, giving signs that things might actually be serious.

And how to recover the investment? Well, Domingues believes that the presence of big clubs will attract sponsors and, most importantly, television. Time will tell.

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