2021 Campeonato Carioca

Campeonato Carioca

Season	2021
Dates	16 January 2021 - 22 May 2021
Champions	Flamengo (37th title)
Relegated	America Americano Cabofriense Friburguense Macaé Sampaio Corrêa
Copa do Brasil	Nova Iguaçu Portuguesa Vasco da Gama Volta Redonda
Série D	Portuguesa Nova Iguaçu
Matches played	108
Goals scored	283 (2.62 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alef Manga (9 goals)
Biggest home win	Portuguesa 5–1 Bangu
Biggest away win	Madureira 1–5 Flamengo Macaé 0–4 Fluminense
Highest scoring	Americano 4–4 Friburguense (8 goals)
Longest winning run	Nova Iguaçu (4 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Cabofriense (9 games)
Longest winless run	Macaé (All games)
Longest losing run	Macaé (8 games)
Highest attendance	0
Lowest attendance	0
Average attendance	0
← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 Campeonato Carioca de Futebol was the 118th edition of the top division of football in the state of Rio de Janeiro. 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. ^[1] Flamengo, the defending champions, won a record-breaking 37th Campeonato Carioca title and their third title in a row. ^[2]

Participating teams

America

Americano

Boavista

Cabofriense

Friburguense

Macaé

Nova Iguaçu

Resende

Sampaio Corrêa

Rio de Janeiro

Volta Redonda

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Location of teams in the 2021 Campeonato Carioca

Bangu

Botafogo

Flamengo

Fluminense

Madureira

Portuguesa

Vasco

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Location of teams in the 2021 Campeonato Carioca – city of Rio de Janeiro

Club	Home City [3] [4] [5]	Manager [6]	2020 Result [7]
America Football Club	Mesquita	Álvaro Gaia [8] and Josué Teixeira [9]	15th
Americano Futebol Clube	Cardoso Moreira [a]	Caé Cunha [10]	14th
Bangu Atlético Clube	Rio de Janeiro (Bangu)	Marcelo Marelli	8th
Boavista Sport Club	Saquarema	Leandrão	4th
Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas	Rio de Janeiro (Engenho de Dentro) [b]	Marcelo Chamusca [11]	5th
Associação Desportiva Cabofriense	Cabo Frio	Rogério Corrêa	12th
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo	Rio de Janeiro (Maracanã) [c]	Rogério Ceni [12]	1st
Fluminense Football Club	Rio de Janeiro (Maracanã) [d]	Roger Machado [13]	2nd
Friburguense Atlético Clube	Nova Friburgo	Cadão [14] [15]	13th
Macaé Esporte Futebol Clube	Macaé	Eduardo Allax, Charles de Almeida, Dário Lourenço and Luciano Lamóglia [16]	11th
Madureira Esporte Clube	Rio de Janeiro (Madureira)	Toninho Andrade [17] and Alfredo Sampaio [18]	6th
Nova Iguaçu Futebol Clube	Nova Iguaçu	Carlos Vitor [19]	1st (Série B1) [20]
Associação Atlética Portuguesa	Rio de Janeiro (Governador Island)	Felipe Surian [21]	9th
Resende Futebol Clube	Resende	Sandro Sargentim [22]	10th
Sampaio Corrêa Futebol e Esporte	Saquarema	Flávio Tinoco [23]	2nd (Série B1) [20]
Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama	Rio de Janeiro (Vasco da Gama)	Marcelo Cabo	7th
Volta Redonda Futebol Clube	Volta Redonda	Neto Colucci [24]	3rd

1. Although Americano FC is headquartered in Campos dos Goytacazes, it played home games at Antônio Ferreira de Medeiros Stadium
2. Although Botafogo FR is headquartered in Botafogo, it plays home games at Engenhão Stadium
3. Although CR Flamengo is headquartered in Lagoa, it plays home games at Maracanã Stadium
4. Although Fluminense FC is headquartered in Laranjeiras, it plays home games at Maracanã Stadium

Format

The competition format went through a series of alterations 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 was played in a single round-robin, instead of a double round-robin. ^[25]

Preliminary stage

The preliminary stage of the tournament was contested as a double round-robin among the four worst-placed teams of the 2020 Campeonato Carioca 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). ^[26]

Main stage

In the main competition, the twelve clubs played each other in a single round-robin called the Taça Guanabara. The last placed club was relegated to the 2021 Série A2. The top four clubs qualified for the final stage while the next four clubs (5th to 8th places) qualified for the Taça Rio. In the Taça Rio, the 5th-placed club faced the 8th-placed club, and the 6th-placed club faced the 7th-placed club. In the final stage, the winner of the Taça Guanabara faced the 4th-placed club, while the runners-up faced the 3rd-placed club. In both of these four-team brackets (the Taça Rio and the final stage), the semifinals and finals were 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 in the Taça Guanabara table advanced in case of an aggregate tie. In the finals of both brackets, there was no such advantage; in case of an aggregate tie, a penalty shoot-out would take place.

The top three teams of the Campeonato Carioca and the winner of the Taça Rio qualified for the 2022 Copa do Brasil. Since Botafogo also qualified for the 2022 Copa do Brasil via winning the 2021 national Série B, and Flamengo and Fluminense qualified for the 2022 Copa do Brasil via the 2021 national Série A, their Campeonato Carioca berths went to the next best team. The top two teams of the Campeonato Carioca that were not already playing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série B or Série C qualified for the 2022 Série D. ^{[27] [28]}

Preliminary stage

America, Americano, Cabofriense and Friburguense were the four lowest placed teams in the 2020 Campeonato Carioca 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. ^[3]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nova Iguaçu	10	7	2	1	12	5	+7	23	Advanced to 2021 Taça Guanabara
2	Cabofriense	10	6	3	1	17	10	+7	21	Relegation to 2021 Série A2
3	Sampaio Corrêa	10	4	2	4	10	9	+1	14
4	America	10	2	6	2	12	13	−1	12
5	Americano	10	3	1	6	13	17	−4	10
6	Friburguense	10	0	2	8	11	21	−10	2

Source: FERJ
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) head-to-head results; 6) disciplinary record; 7) random draw.

Home \ Away	AME	AMO	CAB	FRI	NIG	SAM
America		3–1	1–1	4–4	1–1	1–1
Americano	3–0		3–2	2–1	1–3	1–2
Cabofriense	0–0	2–1		2–1	1–0	2–1
Friburguense	1–2	1–1	2–5		0–1	1–2
Nova Iguaçu	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0		1–0
Sampaio Corrêa	0–0	2–0	0–1	1–0	1–2

Source: FERJ
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Main stage

Taça Guanabara

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Flamengo (Q)	11	7	2	2	23	10	+13	23	Taça Guanabara Champion and advance to semifinals
2	Fluminense (Q)	11	7	1	3	20	11	+9	22	Advance to semifinals
3	Portuguesa (Q)	11	6	3	2	20	8	+12	21
4	Volta Redonda (Q)	11	6	3	2	17	12	+5	21
5	Vasco da Gama (Q)	11	4	5	2	21	15	+6	17	Advance to Taça Rio semifinals
6	Nova Iguaçu (Q)	11	4	3	4	16	15	+1	15
7	Botafogo (Q)	11	3	6	2	14	9	+5	15
8	Madureira (Q)	11	3	6	2	13	16	−3	15
9	Resende	11	3	2	6	11	21	−10	11
10	Boavista	11	2	5	4	14	16	−2	11
11	Bangu	11	1	3	7	5	18	−13	6
12	Macaé (R)	11	0	1	10	6	29	−23	1	Relegated

Source: FERJ
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) head-to-head results; 6) disciplinary record; 7) random draw.
(Q) Qualified; (R) Relegated

2021 Taça Guanabara champions
Flamengo 23rd title

Taça Rio – Final stage

	Semi-finals							Finals
	5	Vasco da Gama	0	2	2
	8	Madureira	1	1	2
								5	Vasco da Gama	1	0	1 (3)
								7	Botafogo	0	1	0 (0)
	6	Nova Iguaçu	0	0	0
	7	Botafogo	0	1	1

2021 Taça Rio champions
Vasco da Gama 11th title

Final stage

	Semi-finals							Finals
	1	Flamengo	3	4	7
	4	Volta Redonda	0	1	1
								1	Flamengo	1	3	4
								2	Fluminense	1	1	2
	2	Fluminense	1	3	4
	3	Portuguesa	1	1	2

2021 Campeonato Carioca champions
Flamengo 37th title

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Alef Manga	Volta Redonda	9
2	Gabriel	Flamengo	8
3	Luiz Paulo	Madureira	6
	Pedro	Flamengo
	Anderson Künzel	Nova Iguaçu
	Germán Cano	Vasco da Gama
	Fred	Fluminense
4	Gabriel Pec	Vasco da Gama	5
	Rodrigo Muniz	Flamengo
	Chay	Portuguesa
	João Carlos	Volta Redonda
	Vitinho	Flamengo

Source:FERJ

References

1. "FERJ - Campeonatos" . Retrieved 7 March 2021.
2. Downie, Andrew (22 May 2021). Mallard, William (ed.). "Flamengo win Rio de Janeiro state championship". Reuters . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
3. "Tabela Série A Profissional - Fase Preliminar" [Professional Série A Table - Preliminary Phase] (in Portuguese). FERJ . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
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5. "Veja os estádios que podem abrigar o Carioca 2021 durante fase de restrição" [See the stadiums that can house the 2021 Carioca during the phase of restrictions] (in Portuguese). UOL. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
6. "Lançamentos 2021" [2021 Events] (in Portuguese). FERJ . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
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8. "Álvaro Gaia" (in Portuguese). O Gol. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
9. "Sem Givanildo, América anuncia Josué Teixeira" [Without Givanildo, America announces Josué Teixeira] (in Portuguese). ge. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
10. "Caé Cunha, técnico do Americano, projeto duelo contra o Nova Iguaçu" [Caé Cunha, Americano's manager, plans for duel against Nova Iguaçu] (in Portuguese). Super Rádio Tupi. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
11. "Botafogo anuncia saída do técnico Marcelo Chamusca" [Botafogo announces departure of manager Marcelo Chamusca] (in Portuguese). ge. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
12. Nascimento, Jairo (18 December 2024). "Flamengo: Marcos Braz lamenta "ter mandado o Rogério Ceni embora"" [Flamengo: Marcos Braz laments "letting Rogério Ceni go"] (in Portuguese). CNN Brasil . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
13. "Após eliminação na Libertadores, Roger Machado não é mais o técnico do Fluminense" [After being eliminated from the Libertadores, Roger Machado is no longer Fluminense manager] (in Portuguese). ge. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
14. Santiago, Leandro (28 December 2020). "Sem dinheiro, Frizão é "pés no chão" para a Seletiva" [Without money, Friburguense has its "feet on the ground" for the Preliminary Stage] (in Portuguese). ge . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
15. Gastin, Vinicius (2 June 2021). "Confiante, Cadão aposta no Friburguense: "Todos têm dificuldades"" [Confident, Cadão bets on Friburguense: "We all have difficulties"] (in Portuguese). A Voz da Serra . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
16. Garcia, Gustavo; Zarko, Raphael; Schmidt, Tébaro (6 May 2021). "Choro, suspeitas e afastamentos: os bastidores do rebaixamento do Macaé e da investigação da Polícia" [Crying, suspicion and firings: Behind the scenes of Macaé's relegation and the police investigation] (in Portuguese). ge . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
17. "Demitido após vitória, Toninho Andrade agradece Madureira e prefere não revelar o motivo da demissão" [Fired after a victory, Toninho Andrade thanks Madureira and prefers not to reveal the reason behind the dismissal] (in Portuguese). Super Rádio Tupi. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
18. Gonzalez, Ricardo (4 January 2022). "Carioca: "Mais charmoso" ou "patinho feio"?" [Carioca: "Most charming" or "ugly duckling"?] (in Portuguese). ge . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
19. Ferreira, Granger (2 January 2021). "Nova Iguaçu apresenta elenco e anuncia Carlos Vitor como treinador" [Nova Iguaçu presents squad and announces Carlos Vitor as manager] (in Portuguese). GF Esporte . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
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21. "Surian exalta campanha da Portuguesa no Carioca: "Conseguimos todos os objetivos"" [Surian praises Portuguesa's campaign in the Carioca: "We achieved all our objectives"] (in Portuguese). UOL. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
22. "Resende anuncia demissão do treinador Sandro Sargentim" [Resende announces dismissal of manager Sandro Sargentim] (in Portuguese). ge. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
23. "Tinoco" (in Portuguese). O Gol. June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
24. "Volta Redonda demite Neto Colucci após derrota para o Nova Iguaçu" [Volta Redonda fires Neto Colucci after defeat to Nova Iguaçu] (in Portuguese). ge. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
25. Zarko, Raphael; Leiras, Thayuan (28 December 2020). "Em arbitral, clubes definem nova fórmula para o Carioca 2021 com pontos corridos; veja tabela" [In arbitrage, clubs define new formula for the 2021 Carioca with round-robin; see table] (in Portuguese). ge . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
26. Nascimento Viana, Marcelo Carlos (11 November 2020). "REGULAMENTO DA FASE PRELIMINAR DO CAMPEONATO ESTADUAL DA SÉRIE A DE PROFISSIONAIS PARA TEMPORADA DE 2021" [State Championship Preliminary Phase Regulations for the Professional 2021 Série A season] (in Portuguese). FERJ . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
27. Nascimento Viana, Marcelo Carlos (28 December 2020). "REGULAMENTO DA FASE PRINCIPAL DO CAMPEONATO ESTADUAL DA SÉRIE A DE PROFISSIONAIS DA TEMPORADA DE 2021 E DO CAMPEONATO DA TEMPORADA DE 2022" [State Championship Main Phase Regulations for the Professional 2021 and 2022 Série A seasons] (in Portuguese). FERJ . Retrieved 1 July 2025.
28. "Copa do Brasil: primeira fase começa com 80 times, oito deles campeões; veja confrontos" [Copa do Brasil: first phase starts with 80 teams, eight of them champions; see matchups] (in Portuguese). ge. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2025.