Meet Barra-SC, Corinthians' first opponents in the 2026 Copa do Brasil | OneFootball

The current Copa do Brasil champions, Corinthians, make their debut in the 2026 edition of the tournament on Tuesday night (21), against Barra. Central do Timão briefly details the history of the opponent, which has been standing out recently.

Founded in 2013, the team won the 2025 Série D title, beating Santa Cruz in the final, and will play in Série C in the 2026 season. Earlier this year, they also won the Campeonato Catarinense by defeating Chapecoense with a 3-2 aggregate score in the final. The team has been in the state top flight for four years and, during that period, had already reached two consecutive semifinals – in 2022 and 2023.

In the Copa do Brasil, Barra reached the fifth round after eliminating América-MG and Volta Redonda, both in penalty shootouts following goalless draws. In the single-leg match against the Minas Gerais side, the Pescador team was able to play at home, but in the following round they had to decide their fate in Rio de Janeiro.

Photo: Disclosure/Barra FC

Partnership with European teams

The “newcomer” Barra-SC has had, since 2020, a partnership with Germany’s Hoffenheim and Portugal’s Académico Viseu. One of the aspects that draws the most attention at the club is its investment in structure and modernization, which makes exchange experiences possible for its players.

Named the breakthrough player of the Campeonato Catarinense in 2024, center-back Gabriel Jesús transferred to the German club that same year. In addition, Bruno Ramos, Marquinho, Bruno Branco, Kauã Vinícius, Bruno Henrique, and Krystian Cubas, all developed by Barra, went on to play in Portuguese football.

Sebastian Bacher, the Pescador’s general director, worked at Hoffenheim. The president is Bene Pereira Sobrinho. Also regarding the exchange process, in mid-August 2025, Barra hosted the friendly between the Brazil and Costa Rica U-17 national teams, which ended in a 4-0 win for the Seleção.

Infrastructure

The team plays its home matches at Arena Barra, located between Itajaí and Balneário Camboriú, in Santa Catarina, a stadium with capacity for five thousand people, plus another 500 seats for visiting fans, whose construction was completed at the beginning of 2025. Work at the site began in 2022 and was carried out by the same construction company responsible for Internacional’s Beira-Rio. The stadium’s pitch is natural grass.

In 2024, Barra inaugurated its modern Training Center, which complements the club’s sports complex. The facility hosts more than 80 youth academy athletes, from U-14 to U-20, and has 100 staff members. It also serves as the institution’s administrative headquarters and includes accommodation. The training center has four full-size pitches, two natural and two artificial.

The site also has locker rooms for the youth and professional teams, a nutrition area, physiotherapy, cryotherapy for athlete recovery, a cafeteria, a game room, kit management service, its own laundry, and a gym that can host three age groups at the same time.

As a result of its strong structural development, in 2025 the Brazilian Football Confederation awarded the club the youth development club seal, meaning the Santa Catarina side meets all the requirements for the development of football players.

Série D title

Last season, Barra-SC won the national fourth division title. In the first stage, the Santa Catarina team led Group A8 with 26 points in 14 matches, totaling eight wins, two draws, and four defeats. Later, in the second round, they got past Cascavel and, in the round of 16, they advanced against Ceilândia. In the quarterfinals and semifinals, they beat Cianorte and Inter de Limeira, respectively, before defeating Santa Cruz of Pernambuco in the grand final.

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