Barcelona will send a scout to the Copinha tournament in Brazil to identify young gems

FC Barcelona sporting director Deco continues to place strong emphasis on the scouting department to identify and monitor young talents with potential across the globe.

Since the start of the ongoing season, the Blaugrana have had scouts present at major tournaments worldwide, such as the Under-20 World Cup held in Chile, which ended with Morocco’s victory.

More recently, Barcelona had a presence at the Under-17 World Cup in Qatar, where they identified Egyptian striker Hamza Abdelkarim and are close to signing him.

Next target: Copinha 2026

Now, according to SPORT, the Copa Sao Paulo de Futebol Junior, known as the Copinha, which begins on 2 January in Brazil, will be the first major appointment of 2026 for Barcelona’s scouting department.

Indeed, the Blaugrana’s scouting department, led by Portuguese executive Joao Amaral, will send one of its members to Sao Paulo to follow Brazil’s main youth football tournament on site.

Deco continues to place great emphasis on scouting the Brazilian market. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)

128 teams will take part in the Copinha tournament, divided into 32 groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group will progress, after which the competition moves to a single-match knockout format.

As usual, the final is scheduled for 25 January, the anniversary of the city of Sao Paulo, and will be played at the renovated Pacaembu Stadium.

This represents a unique opportunity for Barcelona to scout the Brazilian market and observe first-hand the emergence and development of the most exciting U-20 players.

In the recent past, players such as Estevao and Endrick, both of whom were on Barcelona’s radars, made a splash in the Copinha tournament. It will be interesting to see who shines in the competition this time around.