- Fluminense won the second leg 1-0 with a goal from Hércules 37' into the second half and levelled the tie at 2-2 on aggregate.
- Palmeiras won the shoot-out 5-3, with Carlos Miguel saving from Nonato, and will play their second consecutive Final in Montevideo on November 28.
Palmeiras are the first finalists of the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores, although they needed penalties to get there. Fluminense won 1-0 at the Nubank Parque with a goal from Hércules 37' into the second half and levelled the tie at 2-2 on aggregate, but the 'Verdão' won the shoot-out 5-3 and on Saturday, November 28, will play their second consecutive Final at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.
The tie arrived in São Paulo with Palmeiras holding the advantage. In the first leg, at the Maracanã, José Manuel López opened the scoring 45' into the first half and Marlon Freitas doubled the lead 40' into the second, before Wesley Natã pulled one back with a header at 45+3'. With that 2-1 win, Abel Ferreira's side only needed a draw, while Fluminense had to win by one goal to take the tie to penalties and by two to go through.
The first half at the Nubank Parque produced few clear chances. The most significant moment came 31' into the first half, when Millán felt discomfort in an adductor and Marcão was forced into his first substitution, sending on Ignácio. At half-time, the 0-0 kept Palmeiras ahead.
Fluminense turned to the bench at the start of the second half, bringing on Kevin Serna for Jefferson Savarino. Palmeiras, who saw Alexander Barboza booked at 4', freshened up their attack at 17' with Ramón Sosa replacing López, their top scorer in this edition. During the hydration break, with 25 minutes left to play, Marcão set tactics aside and asked his players to leave everything on the pitch and to believe. At 34' he made two more changes: Samuel Xavier replaced Guga and Wesley Natã came on for Agustín Canobbio.
The gamble paid off immediately. At 37', Natã, the youngster who had kept the tie alive with his goal at the Maracanã, laid the ball off just before being fouled, and Hércules, from the arc at the top of the box, finished low with his right foot inside the left-hand post of Carlos Miguel: 1-0 and the aggregate level. Abel Ferreira responded by bringing on Maurício for Andreas Pereira at 38' and, at 42', Paulinho and Khellven for Jhon Arias and Agustín Giay; Marcão sent on Lucho Acosta for Ganso, but the score did not change again and the tie was settled from the penalty spot.
Both sides came in having already won a shoot-out in this edition: Fluminense overcame Independiente Rivadavia in the Round of 16 in a contest that went to sudden death, with Fábio as the hero, while Palmeiras got past Liga de Quito in the Quarterfinals 4-3.
Palmeiras took the first kick and did not miss any of theirs. Maurício converted with his left foot down the middle; Thiago Silva replied with a low shot to Carlos Miguel's left, and Gustavo Gómez and Hércules, the scorer of the goal, also found the net. Ramón Sosa and Guilherme Arana kept the scores level, and Joaquín Piquerez struck his kick so hard that Fábio got a touch to it but could not stop the 4-3. Then Carlos Miguel came up big, diving to his left to save Nonato's effort. Marlon Freitas, a product of Fluminense's youth academy who had scored in the first leg, sealed the tie with a low right-footed shot to the left: 5-3.
In Montevideo, Palmeiras will chase their fourth CONMEBOL Libertadores title, and Abel Ferreira's third. Their opponents will come from Flamengo–Estudiantes, who settle their tie on Thursday at the Maracanã after a 0-0 draw in La Plata: if the 'Mengão' go through, it will be a rematch of the 2025 Final in Lima. On the night Palmeiras qualified, Gustavo Gómez played his 91st match for the club in the competition, drawing level with Libertad's Sergio Aquino as the player with the third-most appearances for a single club in the tournament's history.
Fluminense, who beat Palmeiras in São Paulo in the CONMEBOL Libertadores again 55 years after their 2-0 win at the Pacaembu in 1971, bowed out on penalties. The 2023 champions had knocked out Independiente Rivadavia and Platense in a campaign built on the experience of Fábio, Thiago Silva and Hulk.
The match in numbers:
Palmeiras will play in consecutive CONMEBOL Libertadores finals (2025 and 2026) for the third time in their history, after doing so in the 2020 and 2021 editions and also in 1999 and 2000.
Fluminense are the third Brazilian side Palmeiras have knocked out in the CONMEBOL Libertadores semifinals, after Corinthians (2000) and Atlético Mineiro (2021). The last time they eliminated a domestic rival in the semis, they went on to lift the trophy.
Hércules scored the third goal of his CONMEBOL Libertadores career (23 matches) and his second for Fluminense (both this season). The other came in 2023 with Fortaleza. It is his first in the knockout stages of the competition.
Fluminense scored after the 80th minute in both the first and second legs of these CONMEBOL Libertadores semifinals. Five of the 11 goals Palmeiras have conceded in this edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores came after the 80th minute.
This is Fluminense's first away win in the current CONMEBOL Libertadores (3D 2L) and the second time in these six away matches that they have kept a clean sheet.
Four Palmeiras outfield players have started all 12 of their team's matches in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: Murilo, Jhon Arias, José Manuel López and Marlon Freitas.
José Manuel López (two successful dribbles from four attempts tonight) has completed more dribbles than any other player in this edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (26).
This is the second CONMEBOL Libertadores semifinal between two Brazilian teams to be decided on penalties, after Palmeiras–Corinthians in 2000 (when Palmeiras also went through to the final from the spot).
