- The 'Peixe' won the first leg of the quarterfinals 2-0 at the Vila Belmiro, but lost 4-2 in Belo Horizonte and 3-1 on penalties to Atlético Mineiro, and bowed out of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana at the stage they have never been able to get past.
- Gabigol finished as the edition's top scorer with six goals and ten direct goal involvements, while Neymar missed the decisive tie with a muscle injury.
Santos went through the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana with a double mission: to breathe life into a demanding season and to chase the only major continental title missing from the trophy cabinet of Pelé's club. The road started uphill, but the 'Peixe' reacted in time: they finished second in Group D, thrashed Universidad Central in the Playoffs with an 8-3 aggregate and eliminated Macará in the Round of 16 to match their best-ever showing in the tournament, the quarterfinals.
The tie against Atlético Mineiro started in the best possible way. At the Vila Belmiro, without Neymar, injured in early September, Santos won 2-0 with a left-footed goal from Willian Arão in the 31st minute of the first half and another from Christian Oliva in the 23rd minute of the second half, both assisted by Gabigol, and traveled to Belo Horizonte with a lead that, according to Opta, had been squandered by a team in the quarterfinals of the competition on only three occasions.
The return leg at the Arena MRV was an early nightmare and a cruel ending. Bernard scored after 19 seconds, Reinier struck twice before the break and, although a Lyanco own goal and Gabigol's 3-2 in the 27th minute of the second half once again left Santos with qualification in their hands, Tomás Cuello leveled the aggregate with a header in the 45+2nd minute of the second half. In the penalty shootout, Gabriel Delfim saved the kicks of Gabigol, João Schmidt and Arthur Melo and the 'Galo' won 3-1.
Santos thus became the fourth team eliminated in the quarterfinals of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana after winning the first leg by two or more goals, and once again miss out on the Semifinals, the stage they have never reached in this competition. Gabigol, nonetheless, closed the edition as the tournament's top scorer, with six goals and ten direct involvements, according to Opta.
Cuca's team must now focus on the Brasileirão, where they are fighting in the lower reaches of the table, with the certainty of having matched their continental ceiling in La Gran Conquista and with the same old piece of unfinished business: the only CONMEBOL Cup that the club of Pelé and Neymar has yet to win.
Santos in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Results and Schedule
Group Stage — Group D
Matchday 1: Deportivo Cuenca 1-0 Santos (Luca Mancinelli)
Matchday 2: Santos 1-1 Deportivo Recoleta (3' PT Neymar / Roberto Ortiz)
Matchday 3: San Lorenzo 1-1 Santos (Alexis Cuello / Gabriel Barbosa, assist by Benjamín Rollheiser)
Matchday 4: Deportivo Recoleta 1-1 Santos (Fabrizio Galeano / 4' PT Neymar, assist by Benjamín Rollheiser)
Matchday 5: Santos 2-2 San Lorenzo (Gabriel Bontempo and Gabriel Barbosa / Elías De Ritis and Andrés Auzmendi)
Matchday 6: Santos 3-0 Deportivo Cuenca (Gabriel Bontempo, Gabriel Barbosa and Miguel Terceros)
CONMEBOL Sudamericana Round of 16 Playoffs
First Leg: Universidad Central 1-4 Santos (35' PT Gabriel Bontempo, 12' ST Gabriel Menino, 22' ST Thaciano and 39' ST Rony / 42' ST Maicol Ruiz)
Second Leg: Santos 4-2 Universidad Central (39' PT Miguel Terceros, 11' ST Gabriel Barbosa, 20' ST Gabriel Menino and 45+5' ST Rony / 1' PT Samuel Sosa and 26' ST Mottes)
CONMEBOL Sudamericana Round of 16
First Leg: Santos 2-1 Macará (Gabriel Barbosa and Willian Arão / Franco Posse). Neymar provided the assists for both ‘Peixe’ goals.
Second Leg: Macará 0-0 Santos. Santos advanced to the Quarter-finals with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
CONMEBOL Sudamericana Quarterfinals
First leg: Santos 2-0 Atlético Mineiro (31' 1H Willian Arão and 23' 2H Christian Oliva, both assisted by Gabriel Barbosa)
Second leg: Atlético Mineiro 4-2 Santos (1' 1H Bernard, 20' 1H and 41' 1H Reinier and 45+2' 2H Tomás Cuello / 28' 1H Lyanco, own goal, and 27' 2H Gabriel Barbosa, assist by Arthur Melo). 4-4 on aggregate; Atlético Mineiro won 3-1 in the penalty shootout.
Santos Head Coach in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Cuca
Alexi Stival, 'Cuca', is in his fourth spell at the Vila Belmiro —2008, 2018, 2020-21 and the current one, which began in March 2026—, a relationship that includes the 2020 CONMEBOL Libertadores Final. His résumé backs him up as a specialist in big challenges: winner of the 2013 CONMEBOL Libertadores with Atlético Mineiro and of two Brasileirão titles, with Palmeiras and with the 'Galo'.
His 2026 Santos fought on two fronts with different urgencies: the bottom of the Brasileirão table and a CONMEBOL Sudamericana in which the club was looking to make history. After an uneven group stage, the team found a cutting edge in the Playoffs against Universidad Central, with eight goals in two matches, got past Macará with a comeback at home and a 0-0 at altitude in Ambato, and in the quarterfinals ran into the club of his greatest triumph.
Against Atlético Mineiro, Cuca won the first leg 2-0 without Neymar and with Gabigol as provider, but the return slipped away in Belo Horizonte: his team conceded after 19 seconds, turned the aggregate around with Gabigol's 3-2 and lost it again in stoppage time, before falling 3-1 on penalties. Santos leave the edition in the quarterfinals, the same stage as in 2003, 2004 and 2021, and the coach turns his focus back to the goal of staying up in the Brasileirão.
Full Santos Squad for the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana
Goalkeepers: 1. Diogenes Da Silva - 34. João Silva - 67. Rodrigo Plazezwski - 77. Gabriel Nascimento - 79. João Lucio - 88. Arthur Do Vale.
Defenders: 3. Vinicius Rodrigues - 4. Lucas Verissimo - 12. Mayke Rocha - 14. Luan Peres - 18. Igor De Souza - 26. João Ananias - 31. Gonzalo Escobar - 42. João Alencar - 66. Gabriel Follmer - 98. Adonis Frias - 99. Marcelo Torrez.
Midfielders: 5. João Felipe Schmidt - 8. Gabriel Morais - 15. Willian Souza Arão - 16. Thaciano Mickael - 20. Pedro Manoel - 25. Gabriel Menino - 28. Christian Oliva - 30. Miguel Terceros - 48. Gustavo Pereira - 58. Vinicius Scardua - 72. Nicola Profeta - 76. Vinicius Freitas - 80. Kauan Barreto - 81. Samuel Mendes.
Forwards: 7. Robson De Souza - 9. Gabriel Barbosa - 10. Neymar Da Silva - 11. Ronielson Da Silva - 17. Gustavo Caballero - 21. Moises Da Veiga - 22. Alvaro Barreal - 27. Davi Fernandes - 29. Kaio Vitoriano - 32. Benjamin Rollheiser - 38. Rafael De Andrade - 39. Pedro Assis - 41. João Dos Santos - 47. Mateus De Souza - 55. Fernando Pradella - 57. Nadson Maia - 59. David Nogueira.
Santos’ Key Player in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Neymar
His mere presence changed the dimension of the tournament. Neymar played only the second CONMEBOL Sudamericana of his career —the first was in 2010, also with Santos— and closed his participation with two goals and two assists: he scored twice against Recoleta in the group stage and was decisive in the first leg of the Round of 16 against Macará, where he was involved in the goals from Gabigol and Willian Arão to lead the 2-1 comeback at the Vila Belmiro.
He could not be there for the decisive moment. A muscle injury to his right thigh, suffered in early September in a Copa do Brasil match, kept him out of both quarterfinal legs against Atlético Mineiro. Winner of the 2011 CONMEBOL Libertadores and the 2012 Recopa with the 'Peixe', at 34 he will have to wait for another chance to complete the only collection he is missing: La Gran Conquista remains the only CONMEBOL club title absent from his honors list.
Santos’ Top Scorer in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Gabriel Barbosa
'Gabigol' was the top scorer for Santos and for the entire 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana, with six goals and ten direct goal involvements, according to Opta. He scored against San Lorenzo in Buenos Aires and, at the Vila Belmiro, against Deportivo Cuenca, Universidad Central and Macará, where he reached 100 goals in the 'Peixe' shirt, and closed his tally with the 3-2 at the Arena MRV, from an Arthur Melo pass, which had left Santos minutes away from the Semifinals.
The quarterfinals also showed him as a provider: in the first leg he was involved in both goals of the 2-0, with the cross Willian Arão converted and the pass for Christian Oliva. The night in Belo Horizonte, however, ended with his kick saved by Gabriel Delfim in the first penalty of the shootout. The top Brazilian scorer in the history of the CONMEBOL Libertadores, Gabigol once again misses out on La Gran Conquista, the major CONMEBOL club title still missing from his honors list.
Santos’ X-Factor in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Gabriel Bontempo
The 21-year-old midfielder was one of the great breakout players of Santos's year. He closed the CONMEBOL Sudamericana with three goals —against San Lorenzo, Deportivo Cuenca and Universidad Central— and an assist for Gabigol in the second leg of the Playoffs, an output from the second line that made him a different attacking option within Cuca's team.
He started both matches against Atlético Mineiro and, in the penalty shootout at the Arena MRV, was the only Santos player to convert his kick, with a shot that hit the crossbar and went in. Homegrown, dynamic and able to appear in scoring areas, Bontempo leaves the edition as one of the names the 'Peixe' are counting on for what comes next.
Santos’ History in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana
For a club with two Intercontinental Cups and three CONMEBOL Libertadores titles —Pelé's in 1962 and 1963, and Neymar's in 2011—, La Gran Conquista remains unfinished business: Santos have never won it and have never played a Final. Their best-ever showing is the quarterfinals of 2003, 2004 and 2021, a stage they reached again in 2026 after beating Macará 2-1 on aggregate.
The campaign matched the 'Peixe''s ceiling but could not break through it. Against Atlético Mineiro they won the first leg 2-0 and lost the return 4-2 in Belo Horizonte, with the aggregate leveled by a goal in stoppage time, before falling 3-1 on penalties. Santos are still yet to experience the Semifinals of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana, and the only empty space among their great continental conquests awaits another edition.
