The Copa Federação Gaúcha de Futebol, commonly known as the Copa FGF, is an annual cup competition organized by the

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a state in the southern region of Brazil. It is the fifth-most-populous state and the ninth largest by area. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is border ...

state football federation for clubs that are in the first, second and third divisions of the

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...

. It is held in the second half of the year and usually clubs participating in the higher levels of the Campeonato Brasileiro do not participate with the first team squad, using his academy. The competition was founded in 2004, being the most important

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

cup competition in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

. The most important league is the

, played in the first half of the year. It is known to be a competition that values

Gaúcho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...

football, because the greatest clubs in the state, Grêmio and

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonato ...

, usually play the cup with their academy teams, opening up the possibility of other clubs win the title. The Copa FGF usually receive a different name in each edition, honoring important people related to football in

. The 2014 edition is called Copa Fernandão, in posthumous tribute to former

footballer who died in June of the same year. The current holders are Glória, having beaten Novo Hamburgo in the 2021 finals.

Format

Competition

The competition is a

tournament with pairings for first round (round of 22) drawn at random, being the best placed club in the FGF Club Ranking plays the first leg at away. If that club wins by a difference of two or more goals, it will be automatically qualified for the next round. The same rules serves to Round of 12. From the quarter-finals, the order of matches is decided by lot and the second leg is required. Twenty-two clubs beginning in the round of 22, being the winners and the best loser advancing to the second round. In the round of 12, the winners and the two best losers qualify for the quarter-finals. Thereafter, only the winners advance to the semifinals and the finals.

Qualification for competitions

The Copa FGF winners qualify for the following season's

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...

. Currently, the competition does not grant more qualifying for the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série D The Campeonato Brasileiro Série D (English: Brazilian Championship Serie D) is the fourth division of the Brazilian football league system, and was announced by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) on April 9, 2008. The Campeonato Brasileir ...

, because since the creation of the

Super Copa Gaúcha The Super Copa Gaúcha ( en, Rio Grande do Sul Supercup), was a tournament organized by the FGF during 2013 to 2016 reuniting the winners of Copa Metropolitana, Copa Serrana (Copa Norte), Copa Sul-Fronteira (Copa Sul), and Copa FGF. The winner o ...

, this new competition received that right for the champion. However, the Copa FGF winner also qualifies for this cup, having the opportunity to qualify for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D.

Clubs

Having been established in 2004, the Copa FGF has been played by dozens of different clubs in the state of

. The following 22 clubs will compete in the Copa FGF during the 2014 edition.

Champions

Records and statistics

List of champions

Seven clubs are officially recognized to have been the Copa FGF champions, of which four teams have two titles each:

, Juventude, Lajeadense and Novo Hamburgo. Below is the complete list of winners and runners-up of the competition.

References

External links

FGF website
Federação Gaúcha de Futebol. {{Football in Brazil