The 2023 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D was a football competition held in Brazil, equivalent to the fourth division. The competition began on 6 May and ended on 16 September 2023.[1][2]
In the finals, Ferroviário won their second title after defeating Ferroviária 2–1 on aggregate.[5] Ferroviário finished the tournament without a single defeat.
^Caldense and Villa Nova (2022 Campeonato Mineiro 4th place and 8th place, respectively) declined to participate in the Série D.[6][7] They were replaced by the 9th place Patrocinense.[8]
Format
In the group stage, the 64 teams were divided into eight groups of eight organized regionally. Top four teams qualified for the round of 32. From the round of 32 on the competition was played as a knock-out tournament with each round contested over two legs.[9]
Group stage
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. 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. Head-to-head (if the tie was only between two teams); 5. Fewest red cards; 6. Fewest yellow cards; 7. Draw in the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (Regulations Article 14).[9]
The final stages were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. For the round of 16, semi-finals and finals, the best-overall-performance team hosted the second leg. 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 winners (Regulations Article 19).
For the quarter-finals, teams were seeded based on the table of results of all matches in the competition. The top four seeded teams hosted the second leg.
The four quarter-finals winners were promoted to 2024 Série C.[9]
Round of 32
The round of 32 was a two-legged knockout tie, with the draw regionalised. The matches were played from 29 July to 6 August.[10]
The draw for the quarter-finals was seeded based on the table of results of all matches in the competition for the qualifying teams. The teams were ranked according to points. 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 16).[9]