The 2021 Campeonato Carioca de Futebol was the 118th edition of the top division of football in the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. The competition is organized by FERJ. It began on 16 January 2021 and ended on 22 May 2021. The tournament was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. In order to lower the number of matches to be played, this edition of the Campeonato Carioca faced another change in format and regulations.

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

, the defending champions, won a record-breaking 37th Campeonato Carioca title and their third title in a row.

Participating teams

Format

The competition format suffered several alterations in each stage, in order to minimize the number of matches to be played. The relegation play-offs, Taça Independência and Torneio Extra were scrapped, and the main phase will be played in a single round-robin, instead of a double one.

Preliminary stage

The preliminary stage of the tournament was contested as a double round-robin among the four worst-placed teams of the 2020 competition and the two teams promoted from the 2020 Série B1. The winner of the preliminary stage qualified for the main phase of the competition while the remaining five were relegated to the 2021 Série A2 (the second tier being rebranded from B1 to A2).

Main stage

In the main competition, the twelve clubs will play each other on a single round-robin. This round-robin will be the

Taça Guanabara The Taça Guanabara, or Guanabara Cup, is a football tournament organized annually since 1965 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. In its first four editions (1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968), the Taça Guanabara was a tournament in its o ...

. The last placed club will be relegated to the 2021 Série A2. While the top four clubs qualify for the final stage, the next four clubs (5th to 8th places) will qualify for the

Taça Rio Taça Rio, or Rio Trophy, is an annual Rio de Janeiro football tournament. It is the second stage competition of the Campeonato Carioca, the state football championship in Rio de Janeiro. It has been organized since 1982 by the Rio de Janeiro ...

. In the Taça Rio, the 5th-placed club will face the 8th-placed club, and the 6th-placed will face the 7th-placed. In the final stage, the winner of the Taça Guanabara will face the 4th-placed club, while the runners-up will face the 3rd-placed club. In both of these four-team brackets (the Taça Rio and the final stage), the semifinals and finals will be played over two legs, without the use of the away goals rule. In the semifinals of both the Taça Rio and the final stage, the better placed teams on the Taça Guanabara table will advance in case of an aggregate tie. In the finals of both brackets, there will be no such advantage; in case of an aggregate tie, a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

will take place.

Preliminary stage

America, Americano, Cabofriense and Friburguense were the four lowest placed teams in the

2020 Campeonato Carioca The 2020 Campeonato Carioca de Futebol was the 117th edition of the top division of football in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The competition was organized by FERJ. It began on 22 December 2019 and ended on 15 July 2020. On 16 March 2020, FERJ sus ...

main tournament. Nova Iguaçu and Sampaio Corrêa qualified from the 2020 Série B1. The preliminary stage was contested from 16 January 2021 to 20 February 2021.FERJ - Tabela - Fase Preliminar
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Main stage

Taça Guanabara

Taça Rio – Final stage

Final stage

Top goalscorers

References

{{2021 in Brazilian football Campeonato Carioca seasons

Carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to anything related to the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. The original meaning of the term is controversial, maybe from Tupi language "''kari' oka''", meaning "white house" as the whitewashed stone ...