By Louis Smith.
The 2026 Copa do Brasil quarter-final second legs took place this week, with several classics and derby matches as four teams booked their place in the semi-finals.
The Copa do Brasil this year is unique, with the final set to be played as a one-off match rather than the usual two-legged home-and-away final, as they try to condense the Brazilian football calendar due to the 2026 World Cup.
Atlético Mineiro v Cruzeiro
Kicking things off this week was the latest edition of the Clássico Mineiro. The first leg finished 1-1, with the tie well in the balance.
It was Cruzeiro who opened the scoring after Vitao clumsily fouled Kaio Jorge, who stepped up to take the resulting penalty and fired a rocket into the goalkeeper’s top-left corner. It was a penalty that no keeper was going to save.
Atlético threatened to level, but they had to wait until the 77th minute when Fred played a lovely pass to Victor Hugo, who set himself up nicely before finding the back of the net with a calm finish.
Atlético continued to dominate. Renan Lodi had a decent strike that went just past the post, and Galo’s efforts would eventually pay off.
This time it was Victor Hugo providing for Fred, who, with his back to goal, received the ball before working it into space and striking a wonderful effort from inside the D into the top corner, way out of reach of the Cruzeiro goalkeeper.
There was no time for Cruzeiro to come back, and Galo progressed to the Copa do Brasil semi-finals.
Santos v Palmeiras
There was another classic as Santos took on Palmeiras at the Vila Belmiro. The first leg was a dominant display at the Nubank Parque from Palmeiras, who enjoyed a 3-0 battering of their rivals.
In doing so, Palmeiras were able to rotate some players, but still managed to keep the core of their usual lineup.
As expected, Santos had to come out of the blocks flying, and the match started with Neymar receiving a bad tackle from Felipe Anderson, who received an early yellow card. Gonzalo Escobar was also booked following a confrontation in the resulting melee, setting off the derby in great fashion.
Maurício then had two glorious chances to give Palmeiras the lead; however, he fluffed his lines on both occasions, sending them both over the bar when he could have made Palmeiras’ job even easier by taking his chances.
Santos tried to find a way back into the game, but the stubborn Palmeiras defence made it pretty hard. Once you fall behind against an Abel Ferreira side, it’s always going to be difficult to find your way back into it.
The hosts registered nine shots, but only four on target, while having 31 touches in the opposition box. Despite this, they created zero big chances, whereas Palmeiras created a total of four, missing all four of them.
Of course, that was to be expected with Santos throwing everything at it and going hell for leather in search of a way back into the tie, but couldn’t do so as Palmeiras progressed unblemished.
Vitoria v Vasco da Gama
The 2026 Copa do Nordeste winners Vitória have never won the Copa do Brasil. The closest they’ve ever come was in 2010, when they finished as runners-up. And they won’t be winning it this year either.
In the first leg, they suffered a 1-0 defeat away from home against Vasco da Gama, setting things up nicely for the second leg at the Barradão in Salvador, a hostile environment for most away sides to visit.
However, on this occasion, the hostile atmosphere didn’t work in their favour as they suffered a fourth straight defeat in all competitions.
Vitória did think they had scored when Luan Cândido put the ball into the back of the net, but he was deemed to be offside in the build-up.
The first goal of the game came thanks to some fantastic work from Andrés Gomes, who dribbled from inside his own half to the edge of the box on what was a horrible pitch, before managing to compose himself and strike a fantastic effort past the Vitória goalkeeper. It was a wonderful goal from Gomes, who has been one of the bright sparks for Vasco so far this season and is a real talent.
Vasco would wrap up the game in the 97th minute when Puma Rodríguez, the full-back, rushed forward and struck a right-footed volley into the back of the net with an absolute rocket. Lucas Arcanjo in goal had no chance, and Vasco progressed to the next round.
Grêmio v Internacional
If we hadn’t already been treated to enough quality, the quarter-finals were capped off with a lovely, intriguing tie between Grêmio and Internacional in the latest edition of the Gre-Nal derby.
The first leg at the home of Internacional ended in a goalless draw, setting things up nicely for the return leg at the Grêmio Arena in Porto Alegre.
In truth, Grêmio were simply too strong for a poor Inter side, who have been underperforming of late. They opened the scoring from a corner that Carlos Vinícius read well to pounce on and fire the hosts 1-0 up.
The second goal was a beautiful transition from defence to attack, as Francis Amuzu dribbled out wide before crossing the ball to Vinícius, who made it 2-0 inside 21 minutes.
Then, in the second half, Amuzu was involved again, linking up well with his teammates before producing a lovely no-look pass to Filip Krovinović, who made it 3-0, becoming the first Croatian player to score for Grêmio and putting Inter out of sight.
The away side did manage to pull a goal back through Vitinho after some clever work from Alan Patrick, who was one of the better performers for Internacional, but the result was already beyond doubt.