2021 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C

The 2021 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C was a football competition held in Brazil, equivalent to the third division. It began on 29 May and ended on 20 November 2021.^[1]

Campeonato Brasileiro Série C

Season	2021
Dates	29 May – 20 November 2021
Champions	Ituano (2nd title)
Promoted	Criciúma Ituano Novorizontino Tombense
Relegated	Jacuipense Oeste Paraná Santa Cruz
Matches played	206
Goals scored	423 (2.05 per match)
Top goalscorer	Quirino (10 goals)
Biggest home win	Volta Redonda 5–0 Manaus Group A, R2, 6 June Manaus 5–0 Novorizontino Group D, R1, 3 October
Biggest away win	Ituano 1–4 Novorizontino Group B, R2, 5 June Mirassol 0–3 Paraná Group B, R7, 10 July Mirassol 2–5 São José Group B, R15, 3 September Botafogo-SP 1–4 Novorizontino Group B, R15, 4 September Paysandu 1–4 Ituano Group C, R4, 23 October
Highest scoring	7 goals Mirassol 2–5 São José Group B, R15, 3 September
Longest winning run	5 games Ituano Novorizontino
Longest unbeaten run	10 games Ituano
Longest winless run	10 games Jacuipense Oeste Santa Cruz
Longest losing run	5 games Santa Cruz
Highest attendance	12,897 Manaus 1–1 Ypiranga Group D, R3, 17 October
Lowest attendance	64 Ypiranga 3–2 Novorizontino Group D, R5, 30 October
Total attendance	68,971
Average attendance	2,874
← 2020 2022 →

Twenty teams competed in the tournament, twelve returning from the 2020 season, four promoted from the 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D (Altos, Floresta, Mirassol and Novorizontino)^[2] and four relegated from the 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (Botafogo-SP, Figueirense, Oeste and Paraná).^[3]

Criciúma, Ituano, Novorizontino and Tombense were promoted to the 2022 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B.^[4]

Ituano defeated Tombense 4–1 on aggregate in the finals to win their second title.^[5]

Format

In the first stage, the teams were divided into two groups of ten teams each. Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The top four teams of each group advanced to the second stage.

In the second stage, the teams were divided into two groups of four teams each. Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The top two teams of each group were promoted to the Série B, while the group winners qualified for the finals.

Teams

Altos

Botafogo-PB

Botafogo-SP

Criciúma

Ferroviário

Figueirense

Floresta

Ituano

Jacuipense

Manaus

Mirassol

Novorizontino

Oeste

Paraná

Paysandu

Santa
Cruz

São José

Tombense

Volta Redonda

Ypiranga

Location of teams in 2021 Série C

Pos. Relegated from 2020 Série B 17th Figueirense 18th Paraná 19th Botafogo-SP 20th Oeste

Pos. Promoted from 2020 Série D 1st Mirassol 2nd Floresta 3rd Novorizontino 4th Altos

Number of teams by state

Number of teams	State	Team(s)
5	São Paulo	Botafogo-SP, Ituano, Mirassol, Novorizontino and Oeste
2	Ceará	Ferroviário and Floresta
	Rio Grande do Sul	São José and Ypiranga
	Santa Catarina	Criciúma and Figueirense
1	Amazonas	Manaus
	Bahia	Jacuipense
	Minas Gerais	Tombense
	Pará	Paysandu
	Paraíba	Botafogo-PB
	Paraná	Paraná
	Pernambuco	Santa Cruz
	Piauí	Altos
	Rio de Janeiro	Volta Redonda

Personnel and kits

Team	Home city	Manager	Kit Manufacturer
Altos	Altos	Paulinho Kobayashi	Pratic Sport
Botafogo-PB	João Pessoa	Gerson Gusmão	Belo 1931 (Club manufactured kit)
Botafogo-SP	Ribeirão Preto	Samuel Dias (caretaker)	Volt Sport
Criciúma	Criciúma	Cláudio Tencati	Garra91 (Club manufactured kit)
Ferroviário	Fortaleza	Anderson Batatais	BM9 Sports
Figueirense	Florianópolis	Jorginho Cantinflas	1921 (Club manufactured kit)
Floresta	Fortaleza	Leston Júnior	Seromo Sports
Ituano	Itu	Mazola Júnior	Alluri
Jacuipense	Riachão do Jacuípe	Jonilson Veloso	Niory Sport
Manaus	Manaus	Evaristo Piza	Ícone Sports
Mirassol	Mirassol	Eduardo Baptista	Super Bolla
Novorizontino	Novo Horizonte	Léo Condé	Physicus
Oeste	Barueri	Sérgio Alexsandro (caretaker)	Deka Sports
Paraná	Curitiba	Jorge Ferreira	Valente (Club manufactured kit)
Paysandu	Belém	Wilton Bezerra	Lobo (Club manufactured kit)
Santa Cruz	Recife	Roberto Fernandes	Cobra Coral (Club manufactured kit)
São José	Porto Alegre	Pingo	Weefe
Tombense	Tombos	Rafael Guanaes	Vettor
Volta Redonda	Volta Redonda	Neto Colucci	Ícone Sports
Ypiranga	Erechim	Júnior Rocha	Clanel

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Ref
Criciúma	Itamar Schülle	End of contract	31 December 2020	Pre-season	Hemerson Maria	8 January 2021	[6]
Botafogo-PB	Evaristo Piza		3 January 2021		Marcelo Vilar	4 January 2021	[7]
São José	China Balbino				Carlos Moraes	4 January 2021	[8]
Tombense	Julinho Camargo	Resigned	6 January 2021		Bruno Pivetti	7 January 2021	[9]
Paysandu	João Brigatti	Sacked	17 January 2021		Itamar Schülle	30 January 2021	[10]
Ypiranga	Celso Teixeira	Mutual agreement	18 January 2021		Júnior Rocha	25 January 2021	[11]
Novorizontino	Roberto Fonseca	Sacked	26 January 2021		Léo Condé	30 January 2021	[12]
Botafogo-SP	Samuel Dias	End of caretaker tenure	29 January 2021		Alexandre Gallo	29 January 2021	[13]
Ferroviário	Totonho				Francisco Diá		[14]
Manaus	Souza Baiano				Luizinho Vieira		[15]
Paraná	Márcio Coelho	Sacked	4 February 2021		Maurílio Silva	4 February 2021	[16]
Santa Cruz	Marcelo Martelotte	End of contract	14 February 2021		João Brigatti	17 February 2021	[17]
Manaus	Luizinho Vieira	Sacked	9 March 2021		Luizinho Lopes	11 March 2021	[18]
São José	Carlos Moraes		20 March 2021		Hélio Vieira	26 March 2021	[19]
Botafogo-SP	Alexandre Gallo		1 April 2021		Argel Fuchs	2 April 2021	[20]
Criciúma	Hemerson Maria				Paulo Baier	4 May 2021	[21][22]
Botafogo-PB	Marcelo Vilar		2 April 2021		Gerson Gusmão	3 April 2021	[23]
Santa Cruz	João Brigatti		11 April 2021		Alexandre Gallo	13 April 2021	[24]
Altos	Fernando Tonet	Resigned	20 April 2021		Marcelo Vilar	21 April 2021	[25][26]
Tombense	Bruno Pivetti	Signed by CSA	26 April 2021		Rafael Guanaes	26 April 2021	[27][28]
Santa Cruz	Alexandre Gallo	Resigned	26 April 2021		Bolívar	27 April 2021	[29][30]
Paysandu	Itamar Schülle	Sacked	16 May 2021		Vinícius Eutrópio	19 May 2021	[31][32]
Manaus	Luizinho Lopes	Resigned	24 May 2021		Marcelo Martelotte	25 May 2021	[33][34]
Ituano	Vinícius Bergantin	Resigned	6 June 2021	10th (Group B)	Mazola Júnior	6 June 2021	[35][36]
Santa Cruz	Bolívar	Sacked	16 June 2021	9th (Group A)	Roberto Fernandes	16 June 2021	[37][38]
Oeste	Roberto Cavalo	Mutual agreement	10 July 2021	10th (Group B)	João Brigatti[i]	26 July 2021	[39][40]
São José	Hélio Vieira	Sacked	12 July 2021	9th (Group B)	Pingo[ii]	17 July 2021	[41][42]
Paraná	Maurílio Silva		20 July 2021	9th (Group B)	Sílvio Criciúma[iii]	23 July 2021	[43][44]
Paysandu	Vinícius Eutrópio		26 July 2021	5th (Group A)	Roberto Fonseca	26 July 2021	[45][46]
Manaus	Marcelo Martelotte		26 July 2021	7th (Group A)	Evaristo Piza	27 July 2021	[47][48]
Jacuipense	Jonilson Veloso	Removed from the role	1 August 2021	9th (Group A)	Luizinho Lopes	2 August 2021	[49][50]
Altos	Marcelo Vilar	Sacked	2 August 2021	7th (Group A)	Paulinho Kobayashi	2 August 2021	[51][52]
Jacuipense	Luizinho Lopes	Resigned	23 August 2021	9th (Group A)	Jonilson Veloso[iv]	25 August 2021	[53][54]
Oeste	João Brigatti		10 July 2021	10th (Group B)	[v]		[55]
Paraná	Sílvio Criciúma	Sacked	31 August 2021	9th (Group B)	Jorge Ferreira	31 August 2021	[56]
Ferroviário	Francisco Diá	Resigned	5 September 2021	6th (Group A)	Anderson Batatais	6 September 2021	[57][58]
Botafogo-SP	Argel Fuchs	Sacked	18 September 2021	7th (Group B)	[vi]		[59]
Criciúma	Paulo Baier		4 October 2021	2nd (Group C)	Cláudio Tencati	5 October 2021	[60][61]
Paysandu	Roberto Fonseca		18 October 2021	4th (Group C)	Wilton Bezerra	18 October 2021	[62]

Notes

1. Sérgio Alexsandro was the caretaker manager on the 7th, 8th and 9th rounds, against Ituano, São José and Paraná, respectively
2. Gabriel Carvalho was the caretaker manager on the 8th round against Oeste
3. Jorge Ferreira was the caretaker manager on the 9th round against Oeste
4. Quintino Barbosa was the caretaker manager on the 13th round against Santa Cruz
5. Sérgio Alexsandro was the caretaker manager from the 14th until the 18th round, against Botafogo-SP, Ypiranga, Ituano, São José and Paraná
6. Samuel Dias was the caretaker manager on the 18th round against Ituano

First stage

In the first 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 is only between two teams); 5. Fewest red cards; 6. Fewest yellow cards; 7. Draw in the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (Regulations Article 15).^[63]

The top four teams of each group advanced to the second stage.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Paysandu	18	8	6	4	23	20	+3	30	Advance to second stage
2	Tombense	18	6	9	3	22	14	+8	27
3	Botafogo-PB	18	6	9	3	17	11	+6	27
4	Manaus	18	7	5	6	21	25	−4	26
5	Volta Redonda	18	6	8	4	21	16	+5	26
6	Ferroviário	18	5	9	4	14	12	+2	24
7	Altos	18	5	6	7	21	23	−2	21
8	Floresta	18	4	9	5	15	17	−2	21
9	Jacuipense (R)	18	3	9	6	13	21	−8	18	Relegation to 2022 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D
10	Santa Cruz (R)	18	2	6	10	11	19	−8	12

Source: CBF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) head-to-head results (only between 2 teams); 6) fewest red cards; 7) fewest yellow cards; 8) draw.
(R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ALT	BOT	FER	FLO	JAC	MAN	PAY	SAN	TOM	VOL
Altos	—	0–0	1–1	0–1	2–2	3–2	2–3	1–0	0–0	3–0
Botafogo-PB	2–0	—	0–0	1–2	1–0	4–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–2
Ferroviário	1–0	0–0	—	0–1	0–0	1–0	5–1	1–0	0–0	1–1
Floresta	1–2	0–0	1–1	—	2–0	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1
Jacuipense	3–2	0–0	1–0	1–1	—	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–0
Manaus	2–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	—	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–0
Paysandu	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	—	1–0	1–0	0–0
Santa Cruz	0–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	2–2	1–2	1–2	—	0–1	2–1
Tombense	2–2	2–0	3–0	0–0	3–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	—	1–1
Volta Redonda	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	5–0	2–2	0–0	2–1	—

Source: CBF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Novorizontino	18	12	3	3	24	10	+14	39	Advance to second stage
2	Ituano	18	9	6	3	22	16	+6	33
3	Ypiranga	18	9	5	4	26	16	+10	32
4	Criciúma	18	9	3	6	19	16	+3	30
5	Figueirense	18	8	5	5	19	14	+5	29
6	São José	18	6	5	7	22	22	0	23
7	Botafogo-SP	18	6	4	8	15	22	−7	22
8	Mirassol	18	6	1	11	17	26	−9	19
9	Paraná (R)	18	4	4	10	17	21	−4	16	Relegation to 2022 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D
10	Oeste (R)	18	1	4	13	9	27	−18	7

Source: CBF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) head-to-head results (only between 2 teams); 6) fewest red cards; 7) fewest yellow cards; 8) draw.
(R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	BOT	CRI	FIG	ITU	MIR	NOV	OES	PAR	SJO	YPI
Botafogo-SP	—	3–1	1–2	2–1	1–3	1–4	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–2
Criciúma	0–0	—	1–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	3–1	2–0	2–1	2–1
Figueirense	0–0	2–1	—	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	1–1
Ituano	0–0	3–0	1–0	—	2–1	1–4	2–1	2–1	2–2	2–1
Mirassol	1–0	2–0	0–1	1–2	—	0–1	2–1	0–3	2–5	1–2
Novorizontino	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	—	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0
Oeste	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–2	—	1–1	0–1	2–4
Paraná	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–2	4–0	—	3–1	1–1
São José	4–2	0–0	1–2	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	—	1–1
Ypiranga	3–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	2–1	—

Source: CBF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second stage

In the second 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 criteria to determine the ranking would be the same as used in the first stage (Regulations Article 19).^[63]

The top two teams of each group were promoted to the Série B. Group winners advanced to the finals.

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ituano (P)	6	4	1	1	11	5	+6	13	Advance to Finals and promoted to 2022 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B
2	Criciúma (P)	6	2	3	1	3	1	+2	9	Promoted to 2022 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B
3	Botafogo-PB	6	2	2	2	3	4	−1	8
4	Paysandu	6	0	2	4	2	9	−7	2

Source: CBF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) head-to-head results (only between 2 teams); 6) fewest red cards; 7) fewest yellow cards; 8) draw.
(P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	BOT	CRI	ITU	PAY
Botafogo-PB	—	1–0	0–1	1–0
Criciúma	0–0	—	0–0	0–0
Ituano	3–1	0–2	—	3–1
Paysandu	0–0	0–1	1–4	—

Source: CBF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Tombense (P)	6	3	2	1	8	6	+2	11	Advance to Finals and promoted to 2022 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B
2	Novorizontino (P)	6	3	0	3	7	10	−3	9	Promoted to 2022 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B
3	Manaus	6	1	3	2	10	8	+2	6
4	Ypiranga	6	1	3	2	6	7	−1	6

Source: CBF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) head-to-head results (only between 2 teams); 6) fewest red cards; 7) fewest yellow cards; 8) draw.
(P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	MAN	NOV	TOM	YPI
Manaus	—	5–0	1–2	1–1
Novorizontino	2–0	—	0–1	1–0
Tombense	2–2	1–2	—	1–1
Ypiranga	1–1	3–2	0–1	—

Source: CBF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals

The 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 away goals rule would not be used, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the champions (Regulations Article 20).^[63]

The finalists 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 21).^[63]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Host
1	Ituano	24	13	7	4	33	21	+12	46	2nd leg
2	Tombense	24	9	11	4	30	20	+10	38	1st leg

Source: CBF

The matches were played on 13 and 20 November 2021.^[64]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Tombense	1–4	Ituano	1–1	0–3

Matches

Tombense	1–1	Ituano
Everton Galdino 51'	Report	Igor Henrique 83'

13 November 2021

17:15

Almeidão, Tombos

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Antônio Dib Moraes de Sousa (Piauí)

---

Ituano	3–0	Tombense
João Victor 21' Igor Henrique 56' Iago Teles 90+5'	Report

20 November 2021

17:00

Estádio Novelli Júnior, Itu

Attendance: 6,173

Referee: Anderson Daronco (Rio Grande do Sul)

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Quirino	Ypiranga	10
2	Everton Galdino	Tombense	8
	Manoel	Altos
4	Rubens	Tombense	7
5	Betinho	Altos	6
	Cláudio Maradona	São José
	João Victor	Ituano
	Pipico	Santa Cruz
	Tiago Marques	Ituano
10	Bruno Paraíba	Figueirense	5
	Fernandinho	Ituano
	Guilherme Queiróz	Novorizontino
	Igor Henrique	Ituano
	Jean Lucas	Tombense
	Vanílson	Manaus
	Welton Felipe	Botafogo-PB

Source: CBF