Dorival Junior, coach of Corinthians, extended the long undefeated streak in the Copa do Brasil with the team’s classification over Cruzeiro, on penalties, on Sunday night (14). Timão’s coach has not been eliminated in the national competition since 2016.
In regular time, the celestial club won 2-1, . But with a goal from Matheus Bidu, Alvinegro took the game to penalties, winning 5-4. , who saved two charges.
How Dorival Júnior built his unbeaten record
In his spells at several clubs, he was fired after defeats in other competitions, but he always managed to classify his team before being dismissed.
Between 2018 and 2020, Dorival took a break in his career due to health problems, but since then he has competed in the Copa do Brasil in five editions.
Furthermore, he took charge of the Brazilian national team in 2024, which took him away from club competitions.
Dorival Júnior in the Brazilian Cup (2016-2025)
Dorival Júnior’s last elimination in the Copa do Brasil was in 2016, when he was coaching Santos, who fell in the quarterfinals to Internacional.
2017
In 2017, still at Santos, he led the team to qualify against Paysandu in the third phase, but was fired in June and did not participate in the elimination against Flamengo, also in the quarter-finals.
2018
In 2018, already in charge of São Paulo, Dorival advanced in three phases: he beat Madureira, Confiança and CRB, but was fired in March, not leading Tricolor in the elimination against Athletico-PR in the fourth phase, which took place in April.
2022
After a hiatus, he returned to compete in the competition in 2022, initially in Ceará, where he eliminated Tombense. He then accepted the challenge of coaching Flamengo, leading the team to all stages until winning the title, in addition to winning the Copa Libertadores that year.
2023
The following year, Dorival was fired before the start of the season and took over at São Paulo, where he won another title, advancing from the third phase to victory, again against Flamengo.
2024-2025
His success at Morumbi qualified him to take over the Brazilian team, which kept him away from the clubs until this year. Now, with Corinthians, he has already reached the quarter-finals by eliminating Novorizontino and Palmeiras.
Almost perfect campaign in 2025
Before the semifinal defeat to Cruzeiro, Dorival Júnior’s Corinthians were the only 100% club in the 2025 Copa do Brasil. In seven games, Alvinegro had them all. Furthermore, they had not conceded a goal in any game in the qualifiers. In the campaign, they eliminated Novorizontino, Palmeiras and Athletico-PR.
And on the return leg of the semi-final, in São Paulo, even after losing 2-1 in regulation time,
Third round
Novorizontino 0 x 1 Corinthians
Corinthians 1 x 0 Novorizontino
Round of 16
Corinthians 1 x 0 Palmeiras
Palmeiras 0 x 2 Corinthians
Quarter finals
Athletico-PR 0 x 1 Corinthians
Corinthians 2 x 0 Athletico-PR
Semifinal
Cruzeiro 0 x 1 Corinthians
Corinthians 1 x 2 Cruzeiro (5 to 4 on penalties)
