 The Mineirão hosted the final | |||||||
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| Date | 8 March 2026 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Mineirão, Belo Horizonte | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Kaio Jorge (Cruzeiro) | ||||||
| Referee | Matheus Delgado Candançan | ||||||
| Attendance | 49,675 | ||||||
The 2026 Campeonato Mineiro final was a football match played on 8 March 2026 to decide the winner of the 2026 season of the Campeonato Mineiro, the top league of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The match was played between Cruzeiro and Atlético Mineiro, two rival teams from the state capital Belo Horizonte and the most successful teams in the history of the league.
Cruzeiro forward Kaio Jorge scored the only goal of the game, in the 60th minute. After a confrontation between Atlético Mineiro goalkeeper Everson and Cruzeiro midfielder Christian, the game ended with a mass brawl. Twenty-three players – twelve from Cruzeiro and eleven from Atlético Mineiro – were retrospectively given red cards by referee Matheus Delgado Candançan.
Cruzeiro won their 39th title and first since 2019, ending Atlético Mineiro's run of six consecutive titles. Cruzeiro manager Tite completed a set of Campeonato Mineiro, Campeonato Paulista, Campeonato Carioca and Campeonato Gaúcho titles, a feat previously achieved by Telê Santana.
Background
editThe Campeonato Mineiro is the top division of football in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, and has been staged since 1915. Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro, two rival teams from the state capital Belo Horizonte, are the dominant teams: before the 2026 final, Atlético Mineiro had a record 50 titles including the most recent six, while Cruzeiro had 38, most recently in 2019.[1]
Route to the final
editCruzeiro
editOn 16 December 2025, Cruzeiro appointed former Brazil national team manager Tite as their new head coach for the upcoming year; he had managed Atlético Mineiro in 2005.[2] The side began the championship with a 2–1 home loss to Pouso Alegre,[3] but made the semi-finals with a record of five wins and three losses.[4]
In the semi-finals, Cruzeiro overcame Pouso Alegre, winning 2–1 away in the first leg on 21 February with goals by Lucas Silva and Bruno Rodrigues. A week later in the second leg at the Mineirão, Kaio Jorge scored the only goal of the game, in the seventh minute of added time.[5]
Atlético Mineiro
editAtlético Mineiro drew the first four games of the season, before defeating Cruzeiro 2–1 on 25 January; former international players Bernard and Hulk scored the goals after Kaio Jorge had opened the scoring for the opponents.[6] On 12 February, manager Jorge Sampaoli was dismissed with a record of five draws and two wins, which left the team reliant on other results on the last group stage matchday.[7] Two days later, caretaker manager Lucas Gonçalves oversaw a 7–2 win away to Itabirito to guarantee a place in the semi-finals.[8]
Atlético Mineiro advanced to the final by defeating América Mineiro in the semi-finals. After a 1–1 draw at home in the first leg and a goalless draw away on 1 March, the side won 4–2 in a penalty shootout. Between the two legs, the club hired Argentinian Eduardo Domínguez as the new manager.[9]
Match
editIn a first half with many fouls and few chances, Cruzeiro tried long-range shots from Kaiki and Lucas Silva, while Atlético Mineiro's Renan Lodi also made an attempt.[10]
The second half was short on chances for its first 15 minutes, until Cruzeiro's Matheus Pereira passed to Gerson on the left side of the attack. He crossed the ball to Kaio Jorge, who headed it past Atlético Mineiro goalkeeper Everson for the only goal of the game, given after video assistant referee review. Atlético Mineiro sought an equaliser, but were unable to create goalscoring opportunities.[10]
Brawl
edit
In the last minute, Cruzeiro went on the counterattack, and Pereira took a shot that was blocked by Everson.[10] Christian and Everson challenged each other for the rebounded ball, and the goalkeeper brought down the Cruzeiro midfielder before placing his knee in Christian's chest. Cruzeiro players reacted by pushing Everson into his goalposts, causing a mass brawl that was broken up by security and military police.[12]
Referee Matheus Delgado Candançan recorded two sendings-off during the game: in the sixth minute of added time, he sent off Everson for the knee on Christian, and he sent off Christian for kicking the goalkeeper in the head with his shin while the goalkeeper had the ball under control. The referee noted that he did not show a red card during the game, because of the brawl that immediately followed.[11]
Though he was again unable to show red cards due to the brawl, Delgado Candançan recorded another 21 sendings-off due to the fight, recording them all under the same explanation. The 11 Cruzeiro players sent off were Cássio, Fagner, Fabrício Bruno, João Marcelo, Lucas Villalba, Kauã Prates, Lucas Romero, Matheus Henrique, Walace, Gerson and Kaio Jorge. The 10 Atlético Mineiro players sent off were Gabriel Delfim, Ángelo Preciado, Lyanco, Ruan Tressoldi, Júnior Alonso, Renan Lodi, Alan Franco, Alan Minda, Mateo Cassierra and Hulk.[11]
The 23 sendings-off set a new record in a Brazilian football match. The previous record was 22 for a game between Portuguesa and Botafogo in the 1954 Torneio Rio–São Paulo, and a 1971 friendly between Santa Catarina rivals Avaí and Figueirense in 1971.[11] The world record is held by a game between Claypole and Victoriano Arenas in the Argentinian fifth division on 27 February 2011, in which a brawl led to the sending-off of the eleven players and seven substitutes of both teams.[11]
Details
edit| Cruzeiro | 1–0 | Atlético Mineiro |
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Report |
          Cruzeiro
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    Atlético Mineiro
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Post-match
edit
Kaio Jorge was selected as man of the match. With seven goals from seven games, he was the top scorer of the season as well.[13]
By winning the Campeonato Mineiro, Cruzeiro manager Tite equalled Telê Santana's achievement of winning the four most important state championships in Brazil. He had previously won the Campeonato Paulista for Corinthians, the Campeonato Carioca for Flamengo, and the Campeonato Gaúcho for Grêmio, Internacional and Caxias.[14]
Atlético Mineiro forward Hulk, who was sent off, wrote on Instagram "I apologise to everyone who was in the stadium, to those who watched it on television, and especially to the children who look up to football. What we saw on the pitch is not the example we want to set".[15]
Brazilian regulations rule that a suspension must be served in the same competition, or a competition organised by the same body, in this case the Federação Mineira de Futebol. The players suspensions did not carry over to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A or any other competition organised by the Brazilian Football Confederation, nor to continental competitions run by CONMEBOL.[16]
The military police registered several criminal offences at the match, including a Cruzeiro fan racially abusing a security guard, a 14-year-old girl being hit by a flying glass, and the theft of a mobile phone. Tear gas was used to prevent a pitch invasion by Atlético Mineiro fans at the end of the game.[17]
References
edit- ^ "Todos os campeões do Campeonato Mineiro: Atlético-MG conquista o 50º título estadual" [All the champions of the Campeonato Mineiro: Atlético-MG conquer 50th state title] (in Portuguese). GE. 15 March 2025. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ de Assis, Joana (16 December 2025). "Tite é o novo técnico do Cruzeiro" [Tite is the new manager of Cruzeiro] (in Portuguese). GE. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ Moraes, Gabriel (10 January 2026). "Com time alternativo, Cruzeiro perde para o Pouso Alegre na estreia em 2026" [With second-string team, Cruzeiro lose to Pouso Alegre on opening day of 2026]. O Tempo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ Cardoso, João Marcelo (14 February 2026). "Cruzeiro vence URT, alivia pressão e se classifica às semifinais do Mineiro" [Cruzeiro defeat URT, relieve pressure and qualify for semi-finals of Campeonato Mineiro] (in Portuguese). Rádio Itatiaia. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ "Kaio Jorge marca nos acréscimos, Cruzeiro vence o Pouso Alegre de novo e vai à final do Mineiro" [Kaio Jorge scores in added time, Cruzeiro defeat Pouso Alegre again and go to the final of the Campeonato Mineiro] (in Portuguese). Universo Online. 28 February 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ "Com golaço do Hulk, Atlético-MG vence o Cruzeiro no primeiro clássico de 2026" [With wondergoal by Hulk, Atlético-MG defeat Cruzeiro in the first Clássico of 2026]. O Globo (in Portuguese). 25 January 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ "Atlético-MG anuncia saída de Sampaoli" [Atlético-MG announce exit of Sampaoli] (in Portuguese). GE. 12 February 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ Henrique, Artur (14 February 2026). "Interino do Atlético-MG destaca mudança de estratégia como principal fator para a vitória" [Atlético-MG caretaker manager highlights change of strategy as main factor for victory]. Lance! (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ "Sob nova direção, Atlético elimina América nos pênaltis e vai à 20ª final seguida do Mineiro" [Under new management, Atlético eliminate América on penalties and go to 20th consecutive Campeonato Mineiro final]. O Estado de S. Paulo (in Portuguese). 1 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ a b c Velame, Fabio (9 March 2026). "Kaio Jorge decide, Cruzeiro vence Atlético e conquista o título do Campeonato Mineiro" [Kaio Jorge decides it, Cruzeiro defeat Atlético and conquer Campeonato Mineiro title]. Diário do Rio Doce (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ a b c d e Tiemi Hanada, Natalia (9 March 2026). "O motivo das 23 expulsões da final do Campeonato Mineiro" [The reason for the 23 sendings-off in the Campeonato Mineiro final] (in Portuguese). Veja. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ Rajan, Adwaidh (9 March 2026). "23 players sent off after mass brawl in Brazil". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ "Artilheiro do Cruzeiro no Mineiro, Kaio Jorge é eleito Craque do Jogo na final" [Cruzeiro's top scorer in the Campeonato Mineiro, Kaio Jorge is selected as Man of the Match in the final] (in Portuguese). GE. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ^ Coelho, Paulo Vinincius (9 March 2026). "Tite sai da crise no Cruzeiro e iguala Telê Santana como campeão de tudo" [Tite comes out of crisis at Cruzeiro and equals Telê Santana as champion of everything] (in Portuguese). Universo Online. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ "23 red cards and police intervention as mass brawl mars end of title match in Brazil". ABC News. Associated Press. 9 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ Paiva, Danny (9 March 2026). "Expulsos em Cruzeiro x Atlético-MG podem ser punidos no Brasileiro? ge explica" [Could the players sent off in Cruzeiro v Atlético-MG be punished in the Campeonato Brasileiro? GE explains] (in Portuguese). GE. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ^ Ribas, André; Macedo, Guilherme (8 March 2026). "Cruzeiro x Atlético-MG tem registro de injúria racial contra segurança e lesão corporal em adolescente" [Cruzeiro v Atlético-MG sees registration of racial abuse against security and bodily harm against teenage girl] (in Portuguese). GE. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
