The 2026 Carioca Championship arrives with significant changes.
Considering the athletes’ fatigue in a World Cup year, FERJ and the clubs have approved a regulation aiming to streamline the schedule for the State Championship.
Check out a guide to Cariocão 2026 below!
🏆 Start Date and New Features
- Debut: The first game will be between Flamengo, the current champion, and Portuguesa, in a match brought forward from the 5th round, this Sunday, January 11.
- Return of Prizes: After six years of “drought,” the clubs have reached an agreement, and the state championship will once again offer extra performance-based bonuses – the champion can earn up to R$ 27.5 million.
- End of Draw Advantage: In the knockout stage (quarterfinals, semifinals, and final), there will no longer be a draw advantage for the teams with the best campaign.
- Single Match Decisions: Both the quarterfinals and the grand final will be decided in just one match. The semifinals will remain as home and away legs.
📋 Understand the New Format
Group Stage (Taça Guanabara)
The 12 clubs were divided into two groups of six.
The teams from Group A face those from Group B in a single round. The team with the most points overall will be the champion of the Taça Guanabara.
- Group A: Fluminense, Vasco, Volta Redonda, Sampaio Corrêa, Portuguesa, and Bangu.
- Group B: Flamengo, Botafogo, Madureira, Maricá, Boavista, and Nova Iguaçu.
Knockout Stage
- Quarterfinals: The top four from each group face off (1st vs. 4th and 2nd vs. 3rd) in a single match hosted by the higher seed.
- Semifinals: Home and away matches. The team with the best campaign chooses the order of the venues.
- Final: Single match, preferably at Maracanã.
Relegation and Taça Rio
- The last-placed teams from each group compete in the “Group X” to determine who is relegated to Série A2.
- The Taça Rio will be contested by those eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Tiebreaker Criteria
- For classification in the first phase: highest number of wins, highest goal difference, highest number of goals scored, fewest yellow cards (each red card equals three yellows), and in the last case, a draw.
- Taça Guanabara Champion: highest number of wins, highest goal difference, highest number of goals scored, head-to-head result, fewest yellow cards (each red card equals three yellows), and finally, a draw.
⚽ Important Information
- Classics: Maintain the tradition of divided fans (50/50), unless a specific agreement is made between the clubs.
- Foreign Players: There is no limit for registrations, but each team can only have 9 foreign players on the bench per match.
- Cards: Will be reset after the 5th round of the Taça Guanabara.
📺 Where to Watch
The coverage will be multi-platform:
- Open TV: TV Globo.
- Pay TV: Sportv and Premiere.
- Internet: GeTV (YouTube).
📊 Table
🏟️ Stadium Notes:
- Stadiums marked with an asterisk (*) are still pending the regularization of technical reports required by the Federation.
- Games marked as “To be defined” usually have their locations confirmed in the coming days and may be held outside the state as permitted by the regulations.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
📸 Buda Mendes – 2025 Getty Images
