Taça Rio

Annual Brazilian football tournament

2 min read

Taça Rio (English: Rio Cup) is an annual football tournament attached to Campeonato Carioca, the state football league in the Rio de Janeiro state. It has been organized since 1982 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. It has had different formats throughout its history. Since 2026, it has been played between clubs that lose the quarter-finals in the Campeonato Carioca knockout phase.

Vasco da Gama is the most successful club in the tournament's history, having won the title eleven times.

Format

The Taça Rio and Taça Guanabara has become, throughout its history, recognized for the various changes in its format, causing confusion for many spectators.

Since 2021, it has been played between clubs that finished 5th to 8th in the Taça Guanabara, the first single round-robin phase of the Campeonato Carioca. There are two semi-finals, sixth place will face seventh and fifth will face eighth. The two winners compete in the final. All games are two-legged tie format.

Starting in 2026, the Taça Rio will be contested between the clubs that lost the quarter-finals of the knockout phase of the Campeonato Carioca.

History

Taça Rio was created in 1982, as an equivalent to Taça Guanabara. While Taça Guanabara is the name of the trophy given to the Campeonato Carioca first stage winner, Taça Rio is the trophy given to the second stage champion.

Taça Rio was not held only in 1994 and 1995, during the time format of Taça Guanabara was changed. During these two years, though teams were still divided into two groups, the matches that played against teams from other group, traditional matches of Taça Rio, became the second phase of the group stage of the Taça Guanabara. Therefore, there was no need for the Taça Rio to be held.

In 1996, the traditional competition format returned, and the Taça Rio was contested again and the trophy was again given to the Campeonato Carioca second round champion.