Racing blows 2-0 lead, falls to Boca and crashes out of Copa Argentina

It was 2-0 and looked like a formality. But Argentine soccer has a way of humbling you, and Boca Juniors made sure of it with a comeback that knocked Racing out of the competition and left Juan Pablo Vojvoda on thin ice.

The Avellaneda side controlled the match and had the win all but secured. But Boca stormed back with a reaction that flipped the entire game: they overturned the score, won 3-2, and sent La Academia out of the 2026 Copa Argentina quarterfinals. It's a blow that comes at the worst possible time for the head coach.

Vojvoda was already facing criticism before this match. His standing in the 2026 Torneo Clausura isn't helping matters: Racing sits second to last in Zone B with just 8 points through 10 matches, the product of two wins, two draws and six losses. A win over Sarmiento de Junín at El Cilindro, right before the FIFA date break, had given him a bit of breathing room. The loss to Boca erased that instantly.

After the defeat, the coach chose to cancel his press conference, a move that only deepened doubts about his future. According to sources, club officials and the coaching staff spoke in the locker room, though no drastic decisions were made.

Club officials spoke with the coach in the locker room. In that meeting, he wasn't fired and Juan Pablo Vojvoda didn't resign. There's already a meeting scheduled for next week. That said, I wouldn't rule out another conversation happening tomorrow (Monday)Tomás Dávila

The context doesn't do the coach any favors. Racing had already been knocked out of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana in the group stage during the first half of 2026, under Gustavo Costas, who left the post after falling short of the club's goals for that stretch of the season. That's when Vojvoda arrived, with a promising start: he eliminated Defensa y Justicia from the Copa Argentina with a resounding 4-1 win. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse for the former Santos coach.

Vojvoda's numbers at Racing

The balance sheet of his tenure so far shows more shadows than light: 13 matches in charge, with 4 wins, 2 draws and 7 losses. In the Copa Argentina he had advanced two rounds, but the ceiling turned out to be the quarterfinals, right against Boca.

The image of Vojvoda walking off the field at the Gigante de Arroyito after the loss summed up a night to forget. Now it's up to Racing's leadership: a meeting was already planned for next week, but no one is ruling out that talks could be moved up and the coach's future decided sooner than expected.