- Corinthians led 3-0 and 4-2, but Cruzeiro equalised in added time.
- In the shoot-out, Camila Rodrigues saved the decisive kick from Gi Fernandes and the ‘Cabulosas’ won 5-4 to claim the title in their first appearance in the tournament.
Cruzeiro are the new CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina champions. In the Final played on Saturday at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado in Quito, the debutants drew 4-4 with Corinthians after trailing 3-0 and won the penalty shoot-out 5-4, with a decisive save by Camila Rodrigues, to lift their first continental trophy in the third all-Brazilian final in the tournament’s history.
The match opened almost immediately. In the 3rd minute of the first half, Gi Fernandes received the ball on the right and delivered a perfectly weighted cross into the heart of the box, where Gabi Zanotti arrived unmarked behind the back line and headed home. Camila Rodrigues got a touch on the ball but could not prevent the 1-0.
Cruzeiro, who had already sent a warning in the first minute with a shot from Byanca Brasil, looked for their top scorer with balls in behind and had their clearest chance in the 32nd minute of the first half, when Lorena Bedoya shot first time and Lelê tipped it away with her fingertips. Corinthians, with more possession, tried through Tamires and Gi Fernandes and, in the 44th minute of the first half, capitalised on an error in their opponents’ build-up: Isadora Amaral misplaced a pass, Vic Albuquerque won it back and left Zanotti alone in front of goal for the 2-0 with which the teams went into the break.
The second half had a different rhythm. In the 4th minute of the second half, Albuquerque finished with her right foot from the centre of the box for 3-0, but Cruzeiro responded straight away: in the 7th minute of the second half, after a shot from Gisseli that Lelê had held, Byanca Brasil scored from close range to make it 3-1. In the 10th minute of the second half, Lelê conceded a penalty on Marília Furiel and, in the 13th minute of the second half, Vitória Calhau converted with her left foot for 3-2. Jonas Urias turned to his bench with Ketlin and Pri Back, and the match was wide open.
Emily Lima responded with Jaqueline for Letícia Monteiro and, in the 23rd minute of the second half, Albuquerque appeared again with a right-footed strike from outside the box for 4-2. Cruzeiro did not give up: in the 30th minute of the second half, from a corner, Ketlin headed in the 4-3, and in the 34th minute of the second half Letícia Ferreira rattled the post from distance. Camila Rodrigues held shots from Jaqueline, Belén Aquino and Gisela Robledo, and in the first of five minutes of added time Letícia Ferreira herself headed in from the centre of the box for 4-4.
The shoot-out was as changeable as the match. Byanca Brasil, Letícia Ferreira, Michelle Romero and Vitória Calhau scored for Cruzeiro, and Vic Albuquerque, Duda Sampaio, Belén Aquino and Thaís Ferreira for Corinthians; in between, Lelê saved Pri Back’s kick and Jaqueline sent hers over the bar. With the series at 4-4, it went to sudden death: Lorena Bedoya and Gisela Robledo shot wide, Milena made it 5-4 high to Lelê’s right, and Camila Rodrigues saved Gi Fernandes’ kick to spark the celebrations.
Corinthians, champions of the previous three editions, had reached their fourth consecutive Final with five wins in five matches, 21 goals scored and 2 conceded: they beat Colo-Colo, Caracas and Independiente Santa Fe in Group A, thrashed Independiente del Valle 5-0 in the Quarter-finals and came from 0-1 down to beat Santa Fe in the Semi-final.
Cruzeiro, for their part, finished their first CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina unbeaten: they won Group C against LDU Quito, Bolívar and Olimpia, beat Libertad 3-0 in the Quarter-finals and Olimpia 1-0 in the Semi-final, conceding just one goal before the Final. Jonas Urias’ side, runners-up in the 2025 Brasileirão to none other than Corinthians, turned their continental debut into the first international title in their history and secured their place in the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2027.
The match in numbers:
- Cruzeiro win their first CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina title in their first appearance. The last team to win the title in their debut edition was Palmeiras, in 2022.
- On the two occasions the final had goals but went to penalties, the shoot-out winner was the team that conceded the first goal, the previous one being Atlético Huila against Santos in 2018. The other three finished 0-0.
- Cruzeiro had less possession (38% to 62%) and fewer shots than Corinthians (16 to 20), but accumulated more expected goals (2.9 xG to 1.3 xG).
- Byanca Brasil, of Cruzeiro, wins her third CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina title. Every time her team won the tournament it was their first triumph: Corinthians (together with Audax) in 2017, Palmeiras in 2022 and Cruzeiro in 2026.
- Gabi Zanotti’s goal (Corinthians) at 3:26 is the fastest in a CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina final over the last five editions, beating Ary Borges’ goal for Palmeiras against Boca in 2022 (4:16).
- Victoria Albuquerque (Corinthians) reached six goals in the CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina 2026, leading this edition’s scoring charts alongside Byanca Brasil (Cruzeiro) and Mariana Zamorano (Santa Fe). In 2020 and 2021 she had already finished the tournament as top scorer, although, as this year, not outright.
- Victoria Albuquerque (Corinthians) reached 10 goal involvements in this CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina 2026 (6G+4A). Over the last five editions of the tournament, only Priscila with Internacional (11) and Bia Zaneratto with Palmeiras (13), both in 2023, had more direct involvements in goals.
- Only the first final in CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina history, in which Santos beat UAA 9-0, had more goals than this Corinthians 4-3 Cruzeiro in the 2026 edition.
- Over the last five editions of the CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina, Vic Albuquerque (Corinthians), in 2024 and 2026, and Byanca Brasil (Cruzeiro), in 2022 and 2026, are the first players to score in two different finals in that span.
- Ketlin and Letícia Ferreira, of Cruzeiro, are the first two players to score a goal in a CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina final over the last five editions of the tournament.
Santa Fe took third place
Earlier, at the same venue, Independiente Santa Fe beat Olimpia 4-3 in the third-place match. Mariana Zamorano scored twice early on for the ‘Leonas’, but Olimpia turned it around with goals from Tania Riso and Ana Pereira in the first half and Milagros Ortiz in the 5th minute of the second half, and the Colombian side were reduced to ten with Zamorano’s sending-off in the 13th minute of the second half. Even so, Daniela Garavito equalised in added time and Juana Ortegón, with a header from an Isabella Díaz corner, sealed the win in the 51st minute of the second half. Santa Fe thus finished on the podium a campaign in which they had knocked out Palmeiras on penalties in the Quarter-finals.
