Cruzeiro won the second title in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, the biggest grassroots competition in Brazilian football, undefeated – nine wins in nine games. After a 19-year hiatus, the Minas Gerais team lifted the cup at the Pacaembu Stadium, with a victory over São Paulo, champions of 2025. William opened the scoring for Crias da Toca (the nickname of Cruzeiro’s under-20 team) and Isac equalized at the end of the first half. On the way back from the break, Gustavinho scored his first goal in the competition, 11 minutes after leaving the bench, guaranteeing the victory and Cruzeiro’s second title in the tournament’s history.
THE CUP PARTY! 🏆🦊#CopinhaSil2026
📷Jhony Inácio/Ag. Paulistão pic.twitter.com/wFsjcLLQbF— Copinha (@Copinha) January 25, 2026
The balance set the tone of the match in the first half with a slight predominance of Cruzeiro in the construction of plays. The miners opened the scoring in the 11th minute, after a mistake by the Tricolor defense: Baptistella took a corner at the second post, just enough for William to go up alone and head the ball into the back of the net. After the goal, the game continued to be even more intense. Cruzeiro had chances to expand, but goalkeeper João Pedro shone with great saves.
Cruzeiro’s archer, Victor Lamourier, also performed miracles. But, in the 47th minute, he surrendered: after a corner kick, Gutava Santana supported Isac to leave everything the same at Pacaembu.
AWESOME HERO!
Scorer of the title goal, Gustavinho was the Star of the Copinha Sil 2026 Final!#CopinhaSil2026
📷Jhony Inácio/Ag. Paulistão pic.twitter.com/MzYeR3OeEV— Copinha (@Copinha) January 25, 2026
After half-time, the teams tightened their defense and the game became more truncated. At 17 minutes, coach Mairon César put Gustavinho on the field instead of William, and he would change the story of the game 11 minutes later. The number 7 risked a long shot, the ball hit the post and neatly touched goalkeeper João Pedro’s back before entering. Cruzeiro was once again leading the score, now 2-1. Even though visibly tired, the São Paulo team sought a draw. At 31 minutes, the referee awarded a penalty in favor of São Paulo, after a foul by Kaiquy Luiz. However, during a VAR review, a foul was called outside the area. Ahead of the scoreboard, Cruzeiro managed the Cruzeiro Campaign result in the Copinha.
Cruzeiro Campaign
The Burrow Cubs dominated the tournament from the start. The 56th edition of Copinha started with 128 teams, divided into 34 groups. The team from Minas Gerais concluded the first phase at the top of group 13, adding victories over Barra-SC, Esporte de Patos and Francana. In the knockout stages (eliminations), Cruzeiro eliminated Meia-Noite, Ponte Preta, Santos and Guanabara City. Then, in the semi-final, they beat Grêmio and, this Sunday (25), they defeated São Paulo. At the end of 22 days of competition, the Crias da Tocas scored 22 goals, and conceded only five.
With two Copinha titles, Cruzeiro is tied in number of victories with Palmeiras, Nacional-SP, Portuguesa and Ponte Preta. The biggest winner of the Copinha is Corinthians, with 11 cups. São Paulo holds five titles, the same total as Fluminense and Internacional.
