The 2018 Copa do Brasil (officially the Copa Continental Pneus do Brasil 2018 for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 30th edition of the Copa do Brasil football competition. It was held between 30 January and 17 October 2018. The competition was contested by 91 teams, which qualified either by participating in their respective state championships (70), by the 2018 CBF ranking (10), by the 2017 Copa do Nordeste (1), by the 2017 Copa Verde (1), by the 2017 Série B (1) or by qualifying for the 2018 Copa Libertadores (8).
Cruzeiro were the defending champions. They successfully defended their title, winning the finals 3–1 on aggregate against Corinthians for their 6th title.[2] As champions, Cruzeiro qualified for the 2019 Copa Libertadores Group stage and the 2019 Copa do Brasil Round of 16.[3]
Jádson (Corinthians) and Cássio (Corinthians) won best player and best goalkeeper awards, respectively.[4][5]
Format
The competition was a single eliminationknockout tournament, the first two stages featuring a single match and the other stages featuring two-legged ties. Eleven teams qualified for the Round of 16 (the that teams qualified for the 2018 Copa Libertadores (8), Série B champions, Copa Verde champions and Copa do Nordeste champions). The remaining 80 teams played the first stage. The 40 winners played the second stage, the 20 winners played the third stage, the 10 winners played the fourth stage. The five fourth-stage winners qualified for the Round of 16.[3]
aOriginally Dom Bosco qualified as 2017 Copa FMF runners-up. Two months after the ending of the Copa FMF, Superior Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva (STJD) gave back 9 points deducted to União Rondonópolis in the first stage. With the 9 points, União Rondonópolis finished fourth and qualified for the 2017 Copa FMF semi-finals instead of Mixto. The previous semi-finals, Dom Bosco v Mixto, were annulled and União Rondonópolis played new semi-finals against Dom Bosco.[7] União Rondonópolis won on penalties and advanced to the finals earning the right to play in the 2018 Copa do Brasil.[8]
The draw for the first and second stage was held on 15 December 2017, 15:00 at CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.[10] Teams were seeded by their CBF ranking (shown in parentheses). The 80 qualified teams were divided in eight groups (A-H) with 10 teams each. The matches were drawn from the respective confronts: A vs. E; B vs. F; C vs. G; D vs. H. The lower ranked teams hosted the first stage match.
In the first stage, each tie was played on a single match basis. The lower CBF ranked team hosted the match. If tied, the higher CBF ranked team would advance to second stage.[3]
In the second stage, each tie was played on a single match basis. If tied, extra time would not be played and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.[3]
In the third stage, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, extra time would not be played and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.[3]
The draw for the fourth stage was held on 19 March 2018, 11:00 at CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.[11] The 10 qualified teams were in a single group (CBF ranking shown in parentheses).
In the fourth stage, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, extra time would not be played and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.[3]
In the final stages, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, extra time would not be played and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.[3]
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 20 April 2018, 11:00 at CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.[12] The 16 qualified teams were divided in two pots. Teams from Pot 1 were the ones which competed at the 2018 Copa Libertadores. Pot 2 was composed of the five teams which qualified through the Fourth Stage plus the champions of 2017 Copa Verde, 2017 Copa do Nordeste and 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B.
