Vitória and Fortaleza will play in the final of the 2026 Copa do Nordeste. The team from Bahia secured its place after two wins over ABC: 6-2 last week at Barradão, and 4-3 this Wednesday at Rei Pelé. Fortaleza, meanwhile, had a tougher task and booked its spot in the final by defeating Sport 2-0 at Ilha do Retiro, also on Wednesday.
In the other match, at Castelão on May 20, Sport had won 2-1.
Vitória has won the Copa do Nordeste four times. Fortaleza has three titles. Bahia holds the competition record, with five trophies.
The current Copa champions, Bahia were left out of the 2026 edition due to a change in CBF regulations, which prevents clubs qualified for Conmebol competitions (the Libertadores and the Sudamericana) from playing in regional tournaments. Since Bahia earned a place in the Libertadores preliminary round, the club was automatically barred from the competition.
Vitória beat ABC again: 4-3 at Rei PeléCredits: Victor Ferreira / Vitória
At Rei Pelé on Wednesday, ABC took the lead through Luiz Fernando in the 15th minute. Vitória equalized shortly afterward through Nathan Mendes. But still in the first half, Luiz Fernando scored again to put the home side back in front.
In the second half, Baralhas made it 2-2 in the 27th minute. ABC went ahead again in the 42nd, through Igor Bahia. However, the visitors turned it around with goals in the 43rd and 49th minutes, scored by Fabri and Erick, respectively.
At Ilha do Retiro, Miritello opened the scoring for Fortaleza with a header in the 35th minute of the first half. In the 7th minute of the second half, Vitinho hit a powerful shot from outside the box to make it two.
Vitória and Fortaleza will contest the title over two matches.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
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