The CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) released this Monday (6) the new regulations for the Copa do Brasil with an important change for the first two phases of the competition. From this year onwards, visiting clubs will no longer have the advantage of playing for a draw in regular time. In case of equality over the 90 minutes, the place will be decided on penalties.
Until last year, the highest ranked teams in the entity’s ranking started the competition playing away from home, but had the advantage of qualifying with a draw. The rule was present in the last eight editions of the knockout stages and was valid for the first and second phases. From the third phase onwards, clashes are defined with round-trip games.
With the change, the tournament will have the following format:
- 1st phase, single game, at the home of the team with the worst ranking and decision by penalties in case of a draw;
- 2nd phase, single confrontation, with field command defined by the competition and decision by penalties in case of a draw;
- 3rd phase to the final, duels defined by draw, with round-trip games and a penalty shootout in case of a draw on the aggregate score.
In total, the 2025 Copa do Brasil will have 80 clubs competing. The first phase of the competition is scheduled to be played from February 19th. The decision will be on November 9th.
