The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, a ...

and is the annual football championship in the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It is under the authority of the FERJ or FFERJ (Football Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro). The first season of the ''Campeonato Carioca'' was played in 1906. It was predated by: the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and ty ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

and the

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano is the football league of the state of Bahia, Brazil. The championship has been played since 1905 without interruption. 2020 format First stage: 10 teams are included in one group, playing once only against all teams i ...

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest ...

. Rivalries amongst four of the most prestigious Brazilian teams (

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

, Fluminense and

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

) have marked the history of the competition. The oldest clubs from Rio de Janeiro (

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

, Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense,

São Cristóvão São Cristóvão (, ''Saint Christopher'') is a Brazilian municipality in the Northeastern state of Sergipe. Founded at the mouth of the Vaza-Barris River on January 1, 1590, the municipality is the fourth oldest settlement in Brazil. São Cris ...

, Vasco da Gama) had inspired the creation of many clubs from other states. Flamengo leads the title count with 37 championships, followed by Fluminense (32), Vasco da Gama (24), Botafogo (21), America (7), Bangu (2), São Cristóvão, and Paysandu (1 each).

History

The early years

The 20th century saw in Rio de Janeiro and

Niterói Niterói (, ) is a municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro in the southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay facing the city of Rio de Janeiro and forms part of the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area. It was the state capital, as ...

a significant popularity in football with the establishment of clubs such as

Rio Cricket and Athletic Association Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

in Niterói,

Fluminense Football Club Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, t ...

in 1902, and Bangu Atlético Club, América Football Club, and Botafogo Football Club in 1904 being founded. Organizing leagues for competition amongst clubs followed by Rio Cricket and Athletic Association, Fluminense Football Club, Football and Athletic Club, America Football Club, Bangu Atlético Club, Sport Club Petrópolis and Payssandu Cricket Club. On June 8, 1905, the Liga Metropolitana de Football (abbreviated ''LMF'', ''Metropolitan Football League'' in English) was founded. LMF's first president was Bangu's José Villas Boas, who was replaced by Francis Walter in December of the same year. In 1906, the first Campeonato Carioca was contested by six clubs: Fluminense, Botafogo, Bangu, Football and Athletic, Payssandu and Rio Cricket. America, despite being one of the league founders, did not contest the league's first edition. Fluminense became the first Rio de Janeiro state champion. In 1907, the championship ended with a tie between Botafogo and Fluminense. The league rules did not address ties. Botafogo claimed an extra-match advantage; Fluminense claimed that the league should adopt the goal-average criteria. It went unresolved until 1996 when both clubs were declared champions. On February 29, 1908, Fluminense, Botafogo, America, Paysandu, Rio Cricket, and Riachuelo founded ''Liga Metropolitana de Sports Athleticos'' (''LMSA'', meaning ''Metropolitan Athletic Sports League''), the organizer of the 1908 Campeonato Carioca. Fluminense won.

The splits of the league

AFRJ: the first split

The first league split was in 1911 when Botafogo left LMSA and founded ''Associação de Football do Rio de Janeiro'' (AFRJ - ''Rio de Janeiro Football Association''). The league was nicknamed ''Liga Barbante'' (''String League''), because Botafogo was the only significant club to question the full realisation of the sport under LMSA. AFRJ was incorporated by LMSA in 1913.

LMDT: 1917-1932

In 1917, several accusations of bribery caused LMSA to rebrand as ''Liga Metropolitana de Desportos Terrestres'' (''Terrestrial Sports Metropolitan League'') (LMDT). Fluminense won the competition of that year.

AMEA: the second split

On March 1, 1924, a second league split occurred, and ''Associação Metropolitana de Esportes Athleticos'' (''Athletic Sports Metropolitan Association'') was founded. AMEA, founded by the "aristocratic" clubs Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo and America, with restrictions on its

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

s and lower class citizens to their members. The Confederação Brasileira de Desportos (CBD - ''Brazilian Sports Confederation'') remained with AMEA recognizing it as the official league of Rio de Janeiro from 1924 on, and disassociating with LMDT. AMEA's competition was won by Fluminense. LMDT's (The league was nicknamed Liga Barbante) (String League) competition was won by Vasco da Gama, the only significant club that remained on the old league. In 1925, AMEA rescinded its racial conditions and Vasco left LMDT, while LMDT continued with its minor clubs. Years later, the LMDT championship of 1924 was considered official - but not the following LMDT championships.

Professionalization and the union of the league

On January 23, 1933, Bangu, Fluminense, Vasco and America founded the first professional league of Rio de Janeiro, ''Liga Carioca de Futebol'' (LCF) (''Carioca Football League''). The Confederação Brasileira de Desportos was an amateur-only league supported AMEA. For this reason, LCF was nicknamed "pirate league". In 1934 CBD finally accepted professionalism, but LCF and AMEA did not merge for political reasons. On December 11, 1934, Botafogo, Vasco, Bangu, São Cristóvão, Andaraí, Olaria, Carioca and Madureira founded the professional ''Federação Metropolitana de Desportos'' (FMD) (''Sports Metropolitan Federation''), replacing AMEA as the official Rio de Janeiro league affiliated to CBD. In 1937, the Brazilian football clubs were professionalized. On July 29, 1937, FMD and LCF merged, creating ''Liga de Football do Rio de Janeiro'' (''Rio de Janeiro Football League''), also called LFRJ. In 1941, LFRJ rebranded as Federação Metropolitana de Futebol (FMF) (''Metropolitan Football Federation''). The occasion was celebrated by a friendly match between Vasco da Gama and America that would come to be nicknamed ''Clássico da Paz'' (''Peace Derby'') for any game played between the two teams.

Federação Carioca de Futebol (FCF)

On April 21, 1960, the Brazilian capital city became

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

, so, ''Federação Metropolitana de Futebol'' rebranded as ''Federação Carioca de Futebol'' (FCF) (''Carioca Football Federation''). América won the state championship of that year.

After 1975

On March 15, 1975, Rio de Janeiro and Guanabara states merged under the name of Rio de Janeiro. On September 29, 1978, ''Federação de Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro'' (''Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation'') (FERJ), was founded, after Guanabara state's FCF and Rio de Janeiro state's FFD (''Federação Fluminense de Desportos'', or ''Fluminense Sports Federation'') fused. In 1979, there was an extra Campeonato Carioca which also included the countryside state teams, which, until that year, contested the Campeonato Fluminense. This extra competition, known as Primeiro Campeonato Estadual de Profissionais (''First Professionals State Championship'') was won by Flamengo, which was also the champion of the regular competition, but did not count in the overall titles. In 1996, Taça Cidade Maravilhosa was contested only by clubs from Rio de Janeiro city. This competition was contested by eight teams (America, Bangu, Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, Madureira, Olaria and Vasco da Gama), which played against each other once. Botafogo was the champion, Flamengo being the runner up. In the same year, a state championship was played, won by Flamengo.

Format

The competition is usually divided in three stages: the traditional Taça Guanabara, Taça Rio and the Finals. Taça Guanabara is the first stage of the competition, with the teams divided into two groups. The traditional "big four", namely,

, Fluminense and

are seeded—two teams of the "big four" put into each group. It is possible other teams also be seeded in some ways, but the seeding criteria are not codified in the regulation and has never been publicly available. The teams play one match with each team in their group. The top team in each group plays the second team in the semi-finals; the winners qualify for the final match. Taça Rio is the second stage of the competition. Teams are divided into the two same groups of Taça Guanabara, but each team plays once against every team from the other group. The top team from each group compete in the semi-finals with the second team from the opposite group, and winners of the semi-finals compete for the Taça Rio. The winners of Taça Guanabara and Taça Rio compete in the two-legged finals of Campeonato Carioca, with the winner champion.

Clubs

2023 First Division ;Note * Campeonato Carioca Série A2 is held in the same season, allowing the relegated team to return.

Champions and top scorers

Amateur era

Professional era

Titles by team

Participation

Most appearances

Below is the list of clubs that have more appearances in the Campeonato Carioca.

Topscorers

The 25 top score for team of the history of the Campeonato Carioca, all Brazilian, except the English Henry Welfare: * 284 goals: Roberto Dinamite (Vasco da Gama) * 239 goals: Zico (Flamengo) * 233 goals:

Romário Romário de Souza Faria Figueiredo (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and a former professional footballer. A prolific striker renowned for his clinical finishing, he scored over 750 goals and was ...

(Vasco, Flamengo e Fluminense) * 197 goals: Ademir de Menezes (Vasco e Fluminense) * 196 goals: Nilo (Botafogo, Brasil e Fluminense) * 172 goals: Ladislau da Guia (Bangu e Canto do Rio) * 166 goals: Carvalho Leite (Botafogo) * 164 goals: Russinho (Andarahy, Vasco e Botafogo) * 156 goals: Luizinho Lemos (America, Flamengo, Botafogo e Americano) * 153 goals: Zizinho (Flamengo e Bangu) * 151 goals:

Sylvio Pirillo Sylvio Pirillo (or Sílvio Pirillo) (27 July 1916 in Porto Alegre – 22 April 1991 in Porto Alegre) was a Brazilian football striker. Pirillo's first professional club was Sport Club Americano. His good performances granted him moves to In ...

(Flamengo e Botafogo) * 149 goals: Quarentinha (Botafogo e Bonsucesso) * 133 goals: Heleno de Freitas (Botafogo e Vasco) * 125 goals:

Leônidas da Silva Leônidas da Silva (; 6 September 1913 – 24 January 2004) was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. He is regarded as one of the most important players of the first half of the 20th century. Leônidas played for Bra ...

(Syrio e Libanez, Bonsucesso, Flamengo e Botafogo) * 123 goals: Henry Welfare (Fluminense) * 118 goals:

Didi Didi may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Didi" (song), a song by Khaled * Didi, the principal character in '' Didi's Comedy Show'', a German comedy television show * Didi Pickles, mother of Tommy and Dil in the cartoons ''Rugrats'' and ''Al ...

(Madureira, Fluminense e Botafogo) * 114 goals: Pinga (Vasco) * 112 goals: Cláudio Adão (Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco, Bangu, Campo Grande e Volta Redonda) * 105 goals: Perácio (Botafogo, Flamengo e Canto do Rio) * 105 goals: Plácido (Bangu e America) * 102 goals: Orlando Pingo de Ouro (Fluminense e Botafogo) * 102 goals: Waldo Machado (Fluminense) * 100 goals: Preguinho (Fluminense) * 99 goals:

Chico Chico () means ''small'', ''boy'' or ''child'' in the Spanish language. It is also the nickname for Francisco in the Portuguese language (). Chico may refer to: Places *Chico, California, a city *Chico, Montana, an unincorporated community *Chic ...

(Vasco da Gama) * 98 goals: Bebeto (Flamengo, Vasco e Botafogo) * 96 goals: Hércules (Fluminense) * Paysandu Cricket Club abandoned football activities in 1914. Nowadays it is called Paissandu Atlético Clube, and it is a social club only.

References

*MÉRCIO, Roberto. ''A História dos Campeonatos Cariocas de Futebol''. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. FERJ.

External links

FFERJ Official WebsiteLeague
at soccerway.com

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060307034930/http://www.jadransport.org/articles/2506.html Fla-Flu and the Carioca Cup {{Authority control

Carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to anything related to the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. The original meaning of the term is controversial, maybe from Tupi language "''kari' oka''", meaning "white house" as the whitewashed stone h ...

Football leagues in Rio de Janeiro (state)