The 2026 season is the 129th season in the history of Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama. The club competed in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the Campeonato Carioca, the Copa do Brasil, and the Copa Sudamericana.
Summary
January On January 2, 2026, almost two weeks after playing in the 2025 Copa do Brasil finals, Vasco da Gama began its preparation for the 2026 season with 24 of its players at the training center. On January 5, Vasco da Gama renewed the loan of Carlos Cuesta until the end of the year. On January 11, Vasco da Gama acquired the loan of Johan Rojas from Monterrey. Three days later, the club announced the signing of Alan Saldivia from Colo-Colo. On January 15, Vasco da Gama debuted in the Campeonato Carioca with a 4–2 win against Maricá. On January 17, the club reached an agreement with Cerro Porteño for the sale of Pablo Vegetti, the team's top scorer for three consecutive seasons. On January 21, the club signed Marino Hinestroza from Atlético Nacional and Brenner from Udinese. On January 24, Vasco da Gama completed a sale of Rayan to AFC Bournemouth for €28.5 million, plus bonuses of €6.5 million, making it the biggest sale in the club's history. On January 29, Vasco da Gama debuted in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, losing away 2–1 against Mirassol.
February On February 4, Vasco and América-MG announced a pre-contract for the transfer of Paulinho, with the 21-year-old joining the club in June. On February 7, Vasco da Gama secured the loan of Cuiabano from Nottingham Forest and the signing of Claudio Spinelli from Independiente del Valle. On February 14, in the match against Volta Redonda for the quarterfinals of the Campeonato Carioca, captain Philippe Coutinho did not return from the locker room for the second half. On February 20, Vasco da Gama announced the early termination of Philippe Coutinho's contract, after the player requested his departure from the club due to mental health issues. On February 22, the club announced the dismissal of coach Fernando Diniz, after a 1–0 defeat against Fluminense in the first leg of the Campeonato Carioca semi-finals.
March On March 3rd, Vasco da Gama announced the signing of Renato Gaúcho as their new coach until December 2026. On March 6th, the club chose Johan Rojas to inherit the number 10 shirt following Philippe Coutinho's departure. In Renato's first match in charge, the team defeated the then league leaders Palmeiras 2–1, coming from behind. Renato chose Thiago Mendes to be the new team captain. Next, they drew 3–3 with Cruzeiro, beat Fluminense 3–2 with a goal in additional time and beat Grêmio 2–1.
April On April 7th, Vasco da Gama made its debut in the Copa Sudamericana in a 0–0 away draw against Barracas Central. On that occasion, Renato Gaúcho chose not to travel for the game and fielded most of the team with reserve players and youth academy players. On April 14th, the club lost 2–1 to Audax Italiano at home. After the game, Renato mocked CONMEBOL, saying that "the club's priority is the [Campeonato] Brasileiro". On April 23rd, CONMEBOL suspended Renato Gaúcho for the next three Copa Sudamericana matches due to his absence from the first game. On April 21, Vasco da Gama debuted in the Copa do Brasil in the fifth round, winning 2–0 away against Paysandu, with two goals from Claudio Spinelli. On April 30th, the team won at home against Olimpia 3–0 and took the lead of their group in the Copa Sudamericana.
May On May 2, the team drew 2–2 with their rivals Flamengo, with both of Vasco's goals coming in the final minutes of the match. In the following days, they defeated Audax Italiano in the Copa Sudamericana and Athletico Paranaense in the league, and drew with Paysandu in the second leg of the Copa do Brasil fifth round, securing qualification. On May 20, Vasco fielded a reserve squad for an away match against Olimpia in the Copa Sudamericana group stage, losing 3–1; this outraged a large portion of the fanbase, as the team should have fielded its key players—a win would have guaranteed the top spot in the group and direct advancement to the round of 16. Although the team beat Barracas Central 3–0 in the next match, Olimpia's victory over Audax Italiano meant Vasco finished second in the group and had to play in the knockout playoff round. Vasco went on to lose their final three league matches before the break for the FIFA World Cup, keeping them in the relegation zone throughout that period.
June On June 18, Renato Gaúcho was dismissed from his position due to the players' dissatisfaction with some of the coach's statements. On June 23, the Rio de Janeiro courts removed chairman Pedrinho from the management of the SAF, granting a request by 777 Partners. This hindered the club from hiring a new coach.
July On July 10, the courts suspended the judicial intervention and returned the management of the SAF to Pedrinho. In the same day, Vasco announced Pedro Emanuel as the new head coach. On July 11, Vasco announced Paulinho as a new signing. The team returned from the break with a 1–0 away loss to EC Vitória. The team returned from the break with a 1–0 away loss to Vitória. They faced Independiente Medellín in the Copa Sudamericana knockout play-offs, drawing 2–2 away and then winning 1–0 at home.
August Subsequently, they eliminated their rival Fluminense in the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil, with a 0–0 draw at home and a 3–1 win away, both matches at the Maracanã. In the league, Vasco drew 0–0 with Bahia and lost 0–3 to Santos and 1–4 to Palmeiras, keeping the team in the relegation zone. On the other hand, they eliminated Olimpiain the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana with a 4–1 away victory in the second leg; and eliminated EC Vitória in the quarterfinals of the Copa do Brasil by winning the two legs. On August 29, they defeated Cruzeiro 3–1 at home in the league.
September
Competitions Overall record
Campeonato Carioca
Group stage
Quarter-final
Semifinals
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
League table
Matches
Copa do Brasil
Fifth round
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Copa Sudamericana
Group stage
Knockout round play-offs
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Squad statistics
NameCampeonato CariocaCampeonato Brasileiro Série ACopa do BrasilCopa SudamericanaTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGoalkeepers1GK Léo Jardim80 27 0 6 0 10 0510 3013GK Daniel Fuzato10000020301037GK Pablo000000000000Defenders2RB / LB Puma Rodríguez7+12 10+8 2 3+2 2 8 128+117 2096RB Paulo Henrique3+2017+203+102+5025+100404CB Alan Saldivia5+10 11+1 0 2 0 5+1 023+30 4030CB Robert Renan8126150604526043CB Lucas Freitas101+211+103+206+514046CB Carlos Cuesta3+11160407130+123264CB Walace Falcão0000001+201+20006LB Lucas Piton7+10 13+5 0 3 0 6+1 029+70 2129LB Paulinho00000000000066LB Cuiabano0+1014+31304+1021+5150Midfielders5DM / CB Santiago Sosa005+101+101+107+300085DM Matheus Carvalho00000000000088DM Cauan Barros7015+433+207+1031+73833CM / AM Tchê Tchê4+40 `17+3 2 2+3 0 5+2 029+112 608CM Jair002+30200+104+302023CM / AM Thiago Mendes5+10245515+2239+3812183CM / AM Ramon Rique001+713+108+3010+1112010AM Johan Rojas4+3010+802+114+1120+1225022AM Alan Lescano001+1100001+1100Forwards 18 RW / LW Marino Hinestroza0+40 1+14 0 1+1 0 5+4 07+230 10 28 RW Adson0+40 9+6 0 2+4 0 6+3 417+174 2019CF Bruno Duarte002+11001+113+2200 20 CF Brenner4+11 6+9 1 2+1 2 2+4 112+155 2077CF Claudio Spinelli1+217+1013+227+3317+167309SS / RW / CF / LW Facundo Colidio005+131+10006+23107LW / CF David2+5012+932+303+3219+20510 11 LW / RW Andrés Gómez8+11 23+2 5 5+1 2 4+2 039+68 14017LW / RW Nuno Moreira6+1012+711+309+3129+14250Academy players (with fewer than 10 first-team appearances)60LB / RB João Vitor0+201+3000102+500182LB Riquelme Avellar000+20002+302+500067DM Samuel Jesus0000000+100+100074AM Andrey Fernandes000+1000000+100086AM Lukas Zuccarello000+10000+400+501090AM Diego Minete0+100000000+100072CF Bruno Lopes000+10000+100+2000 Players left during the season12LB Victor Luís10000000100025DM Hugo Moura3+207+410+104014+712026CM Maxime Dominguez0+100000000+100098CM JP1+200+20003+104+50219AM / SS Matheus França100+300+101+212+612010AM Philippe Coutinho42 3 1 0 0 0 073 1014AM Guilherme Estrella0+100000000+100015RW Benjamín Garré10000000100019CF GB300+2000003+200077CF Rayan12 0 0 0 0 0 012 0099CF Pablo Vegetti0+10 0 0 0 0 0 00+10 00
Notes
References