| 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 | 108 |
| Goals | 283 (2.62 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Alef Manga (9 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Portuguesa 5–1Bangu |
| Biggest away win | Madureira 1–5Flamengo Macaé 0–4Fluminense |
| Highest scoring | Americano 4–4Friburguense (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 → | |
The2021Campeonato Carioca de Futebol was the 118th edition of the top division offootball in the state ofRio de Janeiro. The competition is organized byFERJ. It began on 16 January 2021 and ended on 22 May 2021. The tournament was played behind closed doors due to thecoronavirus 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]
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]
The preliminary stage of the tournament was contested as a double round-robin among the four worst-placed teams of the2020 Campeonato Carioca and the two teams promoted from the2020 Série B1. The winner of the preliminary stage qualified for the main phase of the competition while the remaining five were relegated to the2021 Série A2 (the second tier being rebranded from B1 to A2).[26]
In the main competition, the twelve clubs played each other in a single round-robin called theTaça Guanabara. The last placed club was relegated to the2021 Série A2. The top four clubs qualified for the final stage while the next four clubs (5th to 8th places) qualified for theTaça 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 theaway 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, apenalty shoot-out would take place.
The top three teams of the Campeonato Carioca and the winner of the Taça Rio qualified for the2022 Copa do Brasil. SinceBotafogo also qualified for the 2022 Copa do Brasil via winning the2021 national Série B, andFlamengo andFluminense qualified for the 2022 Copa do Brasil via the2021 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 theCampeonato Brasileiro Série A,Série B orSérie C qualified for the2022 Série D.[27][28]
America,Americano,Cabofriense andFriburguense were the four lowest placed teams in the2020 Campeonato Carioca main tournament.Nova Iguaçu andSampaio Corrêa qualified from the2020 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 to2021 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2021 Taça Guanabara champions |
|---|
| Flamengo 23rd title |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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
