2026 Copa do Nordeste

The 2026 Copa do Nordeste (officially the Copa do Nordeste Casas Bahia 2026 for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd edition of the main football tournament featuring teams from the Brazilian Northeast Region. The competition featured 20 clubs. Bahia and Ceará had three berths each, while Alagoas, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe had two each. The Copa do Nordeste began on 24 March and ended on 6 June 2026.

Due to the restructuring of Brazilian tournaments by the CBF, teams participating in the 2026 Copa Libertadores and 2026 Copa Sudamericana would not be allowed to participate in regional tournaments. Therefore, Bahia, the defending champions who qualified for the second stage of the 2026 Copa Libertadores, were excluded from the 2026 Copa do Nordeste, despite winning the 2025 Campeonato Baiano.

Vitória defeated Fortaleza 4–2 on aggregate in the finals to win their fifth title. As champions, they qualified for the 2027 Copa do Brasil. Format In this season, 20 teams (9 state league champions and runners-up and best placed teams in the 2026 CBF ranking from Ceará and Bahia) gained entries into the group stage.

For the group stage, the 20 teams were drawn into four groups. Each team in Group A played each team in Group B once, and each team in Group C played each team in Group D once. The top two teams from each group advanced to the final stage. The quarterfinals were played on a single-leg basis, while the semifinals and finals were played on a two-legged, home-and-away basis.

Teams The qualified teams were AssociationTeamQualification method AlagoasCRB2025 Campeonato Alagoano championsASA2025 Campeonato Alagoano runners-up BahiaVitória2025 Campeonato Baiano runners-upJacuipense2025 Campeonato Baiano third placeJuazeirensebest placed team in the 2026 CBF ranking not already qualified CearáCeará2025 Campeonato Cearense championsFortaleza2025 Campeonato Cearense runners-upFerroviáriobest placed team in the 2026 CBF ranking not already qualified MaranhãoMaranhão2025 Campeonato Maranhense championsImperatriz2025 Campeonato Maranhense runners-up ParaíbaSousa2025 Campeonato Paraibano championsBotafogo-PB2025 Campeonato Paraibano runners-up PernambucoSport2025 Campeonato Pernambucano championsRetrô2025 Campeonato Pernambucano runners-up PiauíPiauí2025 Campeonato Piauiense championsFluminense-PI2025 Campeonato Piauiense runners-up Rio Grande do NorteAmérica de Natal2025 Campeonato Potiguar championsABC2025 Campeonato Potiguar runners-up SergipeConfiança2025 Campeonato Sergipano championsItabaiana2025 Campeonato Sergipano runners-up

Draw The group stage draw was held on 3 March 2026, 14:00, at the CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. Teams were seeded into five pots based on the 2026 CBF state ranking (shown in parentheses). +2026 CBF state rankingState Teams from Ceará and Bahia with the worst 2026 CBF club ranking were allocated to Pot 5. All the clubs were drawn into four groups of five, with one team from each pot. There was one restriction: teams from the same federation should play each other in the group stage. For example, if a team was drawn in Group A, its rival from the same federation would be drawn in Group B. If the team was drawn in Group C, its rival would be drawn in Group D. The 2026 CBF club ranking is shown in parentheses. +Group stage drawPot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5

Group stage In the group stage, the 20 teams were drawn into four groups of five teams each. Each team in Group A played each team in Group B once, and each team in Group C played each team in Group D once. The clubs drawn to form Groups A and C played three home games and two away games. The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stages. The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, the following criteria would be used to determine the ranking: 1. Wins; 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Fewest red cards; 5. Fewest yellow cards; 6. Draw in the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (Regulations Article 13).

Group A

Group B

Results: Group A vs. Group B

Group C

Group D

Results: Group C vs. Group D

Final stages Starting from the quarter-finals, the teams played a single-elimination tournament with the following rules: Quarter-finals were played on a single-leg basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the leg. If tied, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 21). Semi-finals and Finals were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg. If tied on aggregate, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 21). Extra time would not be played and away goals rule would not be used in final stages.

Starting from the semi-finals, the teams were seeded according to their performance in the tournament. The teams were ranked according to overall points. If tied on overall points, the following criteria would be used to determine the ranking: 1. Overall wins; 2. Overall goal difference; 3. Overall goals scored; 4. Fewest red cards in the tournament; 5. Fewest yellow cards in the tournament; 6. Draw in the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (Regulations Article 19).

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Semi-finals

Group I

Group J

Finals

Group K

References

2026 Copa do Nordeste

Bron en licentie