Champions progress on penalties, Paulistão semi-finals confirmed
Champions progress on penalties, Paulistão semi-finals confirmedOneFootballMon, February 23, 2026 at 1:56 AM UTC·3 min readThe current Paulista champion almost said goodbye to the 2026 edition of the tournament this Sunday (22).
But Hugo Souza once again made the difference for Corinthians.
Playing at Canindé, he saved a penalty in regular time and saw Vitinho score the 1-1 equalizer against Portuguesa in stoppage time.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThen, he saved two more penalties to secure Timão’s 8-7 victory in the shootout.
This result determined the matchups for the Paulistão semifinals – see below.
Hugo Souza, mistakes, and Lusa ahead
Portuguesa went into halftime with the lead. It was deserved for the team that worked the ball better.
Maceió was the first to stand out.
Next, Renê got past Hugo Souza before being brought down by him in the box.
A penalty that the number 21 himself took, but saw Timão’s goalkeeper come out on top (26’).
It was the 12th penalty saved by Hugo for Corinthians in 37 attempts.
Persistent Lusa would score in the 38th minute.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAndré Ramalho couldn’t clear Raniele’s long ball and Zé Vitor beat Hugo Souza.
Timão had more possession before halftime. But they fell short.
Attempts and... Timão’s goal
With no other option, Corinthians returned for the second half with Garro.
He saw Hugo Souza save João Vitor’s attempt and, right after, started to press.
Dorival brought on Dieguinho, Vitinho, and Pedro Raul in succession.
The striker had a great chance at 28’, but missed the finish.
The pressure continued. Without effect.
The main chances were for Lusa, with Maceió.
Then Vitinho celebrated his long-awaited first goal in a Corinthians shirt at 48’.
Penalties
Garro saw Bertinato save his shot – 0x0
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementZé Vitor left Hugo Souza with no chance – 0x1
Vitinho gave Bertinato no chance – 1x1
Renê was frustrated by Hugo Souza again – 1x1
Matheuzinho sent the rival goalkeeper the wrong way – 2x1
Botteghin hit the post directly, but then celebrated – 2x2
Gustavo Henrique beat Bertinato with style – 3x2
Gustavo Henrique (from Lusa) showed quality to score – 3x3
Pedro Raul almost saw Bertinato save, but celebrated – 4x3
Maceió showed plenty of composure to beat Hugo – 4x4
André Ramalho sent it to Bertinato’s left corner – 5x4
Hudson struck hard with no chance for Hugo – 5x5
Kayke showed composure to score – 6x5
Salomão hit the side netting to celebrate – 6x6
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAndré took it well to beat Bertinato – 7x6
Carlos Eduardo sent it through Hugo’s legs – 7x7
Allan shot into the left corner – 8x7
Cauari saw Hugo Souza save with his feet – 8x7
Semifinal matchups 👇🏽
Novorizontino (19 points and a goal difference of seven) and Palmeiras (19 points and a goal difference of five) continued with the best and second-best campaigns, respectively, after eliminating Santos and Capivariano.
Meanwhile, São Paulo waited for the last semifinal.
The Tricolor started the knockout stage with the sixth-best campaign and depended on what happened at Canindé to know if they would have the third or fourth-best overall performance.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCorinthians’ qualification on penalties gave SPFC the third-best campaign (16 points)
Securing a classic against Palmeiras.
Timão ended up with the fourth-best campaign (15 points).
Which left the matchups as follows:
Best campaign – Novorizontino 🆚 Corinthians – fourth-best campaign
Second-best campaign – Palmeiras 🆚 São Paulo – third-best campaign
Single matches scheduled for Sunday (1).
Photo: Agência Paulistão
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
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