Detuned systems can spontaneously achieve a synchronous dynamics and display robust quantum correlations in different local and global dissipation regimes. Beyond the Markovian limit, information backflow from the environment becomes a crucial mechanism whose interplay with spontaneous synchronization is unknown. Considering a model of two coupled qubits, one of which interacts with a dissipative environment, we show that non-Markovianity is highly detrimental for the emergence of synchronization, for the latter can be delayed and hindered because of the presence of information backflow. The results are obtained considering both a master equation approach and a collision model based on repeated interactions, which represents a very versatile tool to tailor the desired kind of environment.