- The first-time participants advanced as runners-up in Group G with 12 points and seven different goalscorers, and will face fellow group members Liga de Quito in the Round of 16.
- The club from a city of just 65,000 inhabitants, which climbed from Série D to the top flight in five seasons, is living out the competition’s most improbable continental adventure.
Mirassol are the story no one saw coming in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: a century-old club from a city of 65,000 people in the São Paulo countryside that was playing in Brazil’s Série D as recently as 2020 and, in its first-ever continental campaign, has reached the last 16 in South America. Rafael Guanaes’ 'Leão' finished Group G with 12 points — level with Liga de Quito, who topped the section only on goals scored — and with a statistic that reflects the team’s collective identity: seven goals from seven different players.
Their campaign was built on the strength of the José Maria de Campos Maia, where they won all three home matches without conceding — against Lanús, Always Ready and Liga de Quito — and on a spirit their coach embraces without pretension. Having worked his way up through the lower divisions, an admirer of Klopp and a self-confessed Football Manager fan, Guanaes turned the team with the smallest budget in the 2025 Série A into a model of efficiency. Their domestic reality, however, has been more difficult: in the 2026 Brasileirão, Mirassol are battling near the bottom of the table, far removed from the historic fourth-place finish last year that earned them a place in this competition.
The Round of 16 brings a fresh rematch against Liga de Quito, their Group Stage opponents, with the two sides having traded 2-0 victories. The first leg will be played in Mirassol, before the tie is decided at altitude in Quito, where the Ecuadorian 'Rey de Copas' will have home advantage after finishing top of the group. For a club and a community venturing further than ever before, every match continues to write a new page in their history.
Mirassol in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: Results and Schedule
Group G - Matchday 1: Mirassol 1-0 Lanús (15' 2H João Victor)
Group G - Matchday 2: Liga de Quito 2-0 Mirassol (6' 1H Yeltzin Quiñónez and 34' 1H Quintero)
Group G - Matchday 3: Mirassol 2-0 Always Ready (10' 1H Carlos Eduardo and 35' 2H Alesson)
Group G - Matchday 4: Mirassol 2-0 Liga de Quito (2' 2H Lucas Oliveira and 16' 2H Reinaldo, penalty)
Group G - Matchday 5: Always Ready 1-2 Mirassol — played in Asunción (11' 1H Shaylon and 37' 2H Nathan Fogaça / 30' 2H Maraude)
Group G - Matchday 6: Lanús 1-0 Mirassol (22' 1H Medina)
Round of 16 - First Leg: Mirassol vs. Liga de Quito — Thursday, August 13, 7:00 p.m. (Brasília time), José Maria de Campos Maia Stadium, Mirassol
Round of 16 - Second Leg: Liga de Quito vs. Mirassol — Thursday, August 20, 5:00 p.m. (Ecuador time), Rodrigo Paz Delgado Stadium, Quito
Mirassol Coach in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: Rafael Guanaes
The 45-year-old coach from São Paulo is the face of Mirassol’s remarkable rise. With no previous Série A experience, he took charge for the club’s debut season in the top flight and led them to a historic fourth-place finish in the 2025 Brasileirão despite having the league’s smallest budget — a result that secured the first CONMEBOL Libertadores qualification in Mirassol’s history. His approach blends intense, European-inspired pressing — he cites Klopp as one of his influences — with an obsession for detail that he himself describes with humour: “My life is the biggest Football Manager save I’ve ever played.”
In the Libertadores, his team have translated that philosophy into solidity: a perfect home record, disciplined work without the ball and an efficiency that compensates for the lack of star names. The tie against Liga de Quito — a side they have already beaten and lost to — will be the toughest test yet of his young coaching career.
Full Mirassol Squad for the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores
Goalkeepers: 1. Georgemy Goncalves - 22. Walter Capeloza - 23. Alex Santana - 90. Carlos Lecciolle.
Defenders: 2. Lucas Da Cruz - 3. Willian Estefani - 34. João Carroll - 35. Luiz Da Silva - 44. Gabriel Knesowitsch.
Midfielders: 5. João Gadelha Melo - 7. Shaylon Cardozo - 8. Denilson Alves - 10. Francisco Sol - 18. Gabriel Appelt - 21. Jose Soares - 25. Antonio Francisco - 33. Carlos De Oliveira - 47. Vinicius Bacchi De - 80. Wallisson Alves.
Forwards: 6. Reinaldo Da Silva - 9. Nathan Uiliam - 11. Luis Soares - 12. Victor Chuab - 16. Igor Aquino - 17. Fernando Marques - 20. Daniel Fortunato - 27. Antonio Galeano - 30. Bruno Santos De - 32. Igor Paciencia - 45. Cauã Soares Da - 46. Gabriel Rodrigues - 48. Felipe Pereira Dos - 77. Alesson Dos Santos - 95. Edson Mendes Dos - 96. Carlos Ferreira - 99. Andre Silva De.
Mirassol Key Player in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: Reinaldo
At 36, the left-back is the soul of the project. He joined on a free transfer at the start of 2025 after making his mark with São Paulo and Grêmio, became both the leading scorer and one of the leaders of the Mirassol side that took the Brasileirão by storm, and added a penalty against Liga de Quito in the Libertadores that could yet prove decisive in the tie. A late-career idol by choice, he often describes this stage of his career as a final dance.
His presence brings order to the team at both ends of the pitch: set pieces, composure in the build-up and a commanding voice in a dressing room that blends battle-hardened veterans with players experiencing continental competition for the first time. In the Round of 16, the captain’s experience may be the debutants’ most valuable asset.
Mirassol Top Scorers in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: Goals Shared Around
The most telling statistic of Mirassol’s campaign is that there is no single leading scorer: the 'Leão’s' seven goals have come from seven different players — João Victor, Carlos Eduardo, Alesson, Lucas Oliveira, Reinaldo, Shaylon and Nathan Fogaça, the latter no longer at the club. One goal apiece, the perfect reflection of a team in which individual star power has been replaced by shared responsibility.
If there is one attacking reference point, it is Reinaldo. The 36-year-old captain, Mirassol’s leading scorer in the 2025 Brasileirão and first-choice penalty taker, converted from the spot in the 2-0 win over Liga de Quito — the result that now stands as the key precedent ahead of their Round of 16 tie.
Mirassol Factor X in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: Shaylon
The No. 7 is the player who brings something different to the 'Leão': left-footed, creative and capable of scoring, he opened the scoring in the most unusual match of their campaign — the “away” fixture against Always Ready that was played in Asunción — and is responsible for linking Mirassol’s defensive solidity with the opposition penalty area. Developed at São Paulo, he has found in Mirassol the stage to produce some of his best football.
In a tie that will be decided at 2,850 metres above sea level in Quito, where both space and oxygen will be at a premium, Shaylon’s ability to find solutions in tight areas could be the key to the upset that the São Paulo countryside is dreaming of.
Mirassol History in the CONMEBOL Libertadores
Mirassol’s history in the CONMEBOL Libertadores began in 2026, and it is already unique: their first continental appearance in a century of existence, qualification for the Round of 16 on debut, and a rise — from Brazil’s Série D in 2020 to the continental elite in just five seasons — with few parallels in Brazilian football.
The club from a city of 65,000 inhabitants — a population small enough to fit inside the Maracanã — now face Liga de Quito, South American champions in 2008, for a place among the final eight. Win or lose, the 'Leão' have already redefined the limits of what seemed possible. In Mirassol, however, nobody wants the story to end just yet.
