The Copa Federação Gaúcha de Futebol, commonly known as the Copa FGF, is an annual cup competition organized by the Rio Grande do Sul state football federation for clubs that are in the first, second and third divisions of the Campeonato Gaúcho. It is held in the second half of the year and usually clubs participating in the higher levels of the Campeonato Brasileiro do not participate with the first team squad, using their academies.

Copa FGF
2014 logo, in posthumous tribute to Fernandão.
Founded2004
RegionRio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul
Number of teams22
Current championsSão Luiz (2nd title)
Most successful club(s)Internacional
Juventude
Lajeadense
Novo Hamburgo
Pelotas
São Luiz
(2 titles each)
WebsiteOfficial website

The competition was founded in 2004 being the most important knockout cup competition in Rio Grande do Sul football. It was created with the objective of filling the calendar of smaller teams, as the Campeonato Gaúcho runs only in the first months of the year, leaving many smaller teams of the state without games to play on the rest of the year, thus, the Copa FGF is considered a competition that values local Gaúcho football, because the greatest clubs in the state, Grêmio and Internacional, usually play the cup with their academy teams, opening up the possibility of smaller clubs of the state win the title. The winners of the Copa FGF faces the winners of the Campeonato Gaúcho at the super cup Recopa Gaúcha.

The Copa FGF usually receive a different name in each edition, honoring important people related to football in Rio Grande do Sul. The 2014 edition is called Copa Fernandão, in posthumous tribute to former Internacional footballer who died in June of the same year.

The current holders are São Luiz after beating Passo Fundo in the 2022 finals. The 2023 edition has been renamed to Copa Rei Pelé after Pelé's passing in December 2022.

Format

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Competition

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The competition is a knockout tournament with pairings for first round (round of 22) drawn at random, being the best placed club in the FGF Club Ranking plays the first leg at away. If that club wins by a difference of two or more goals, it will be automatically qualified for the next round. The same rules serves to Round of 12. From the quarter-finals, the order of matches is decided by lot and the second leg is required.

Twenty-two clubs beginning in the round of 22, being the winners and the best loser advancing to the second round. In the round of 12, the winners and the two best losers qualify for the quarter-finals. Thereafter, only the winners advance to the semifinals and the finals.

Qualification for competitions

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The Copa FGF winners qualify for the following season's Copa do Brasil. Currently, the competition does not grant more qualifying for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, because since the creation of the Super Copa Gaúcha, this new competition received that right for the champion. However, the Copa FGF winner also qualifies for this cup, having the opportunity to qualify for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D.

Clubs

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Having been established in 2004, the Copa FGF has been played by dozens of different clubs in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The following 22 clubs will compete in the Copa FGF during the 2014 edition.

Club City Stadium Capacity Division in 2014 First app Number of apps Titles Last title
Aimoré São Leopoldo Cristo Rei 10,000 Série A1 2006 5
Bagé Bagé Pedra Moura 12,000 Série B 2008 3
Brasil (PE) Pelotas Bento Freitas 18,000 Série A1 2004 8
Cerâmica Gravataí Vieirão 8,000 Série A1 2007 7
Esportivo Bento Gonçalves Montanha dos Vinhedos 15,269 Série A1 2004 5 1 2004
Estância Velha Canoas Estádio das Cabriúvas 5,000 Série B 2014 1
Farroupilha Pelotas Nicolau Fico 8,000 Série B 2004 4
Garibaldi Garibaldi Alcides Santa Rosa 4,000 Série B 2007 1
Guarani (VA) Venâncio Aires Edmundo Feix 4,000 Série B 2005 2
Guarany (BG) Bagé Estrela D'Alva 10,000 Série B 2006 4
Internacional Porto Alegre Morada dos Quero-Queros 2,000 Série A1 2004 10 2 2010
Juventude Caxias do Sul Alfredo Jaconi 23,726 Série A1 2004 9 2 2012
Lajeadense Lajeado Arena Alviazul 7,000 Série A1 2005 7
Marau Marau Carlos Renato Bebber 2,000 Série A2 2014 1
Novo Hamburgo Novo Hamburgo Estádio do Vale 6,500 Série A1 2004 9 2 2013
Panambi Panambi João Marimon Júnior 3,000 Série A2 2014 1
Pelotas Pelotas Boca do Lobo 18,000 Serie A1 2004 8 1 2008
Santa Cruz-RS Santa Cruz do Sul Estádio dos Plátanos 7,000 Série A2 2014 2 1 2020
São José-RS Porto Alegre Passo D'Areia 8,000 Série A1 2004 9
São Paulo-RS Rio Grande Aldo Dapuzzo 11,500 Série A1 2004 7
Veranópolis Veranópolis Antônio David Farina 4,000 Série A1 2004 1
Ypiranga-RS Erechim Colosso da Lagoa 30,000 Série A2 A2006 4

Champions

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Season Name Champions Runners-up
2004 Copa LG/Colombo Esportivo Gaúcho
2005 Copa FGF Novo Hamburgo Ulbra
2006 Copa FGF Grêmio Ulbra
2007 Copa Rogério Amoretty Caxias Brasil de Pelotas
2008 Copa Lupi Martins Pelotas Cerâmica
2009 Copa Arthur Dallegrave Internacional Ypiranga
2010 Copa Enio Costamilan Internacional Cerâmica
2011 Copa Dra. Lacy Ughini Juventude Lajeadense
2012 Copa Hélio Dourado Juventude Brasil de Pelotas
2013 Copa Willy Sanvitto Novo Hamburgo São José
2014 Copa Fernandão Lajeadense Guarani-VA
2015 Copa Luiz Fernando Costa Lajeadense Pelotas
2016 Not held
2017 Copa Paulo Sant'Ana São José Aimoré
2018 Copa Wianey Carlet Avenida Gaúcho
2019 Copa Seu Verardi Pelotas São José
2020 Troféu Ibsen Pinheiro Santa Cruz São José
2021 Troféu Dirceu de Castro Glória Novo Hamburgo
2022 Troféu Tarciso Flecha Negra São Luiz Passo Fundo
2023 Copa Rei Pelé São Luiz São José

Records and statistics

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List of champions

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Seven clubs are officially recognized to have been the Copa FGF champions, of which four teams have two titles each: Internacional, Juventude, Lajeadense and Novo Hamburgo. Below is the complete list of winners and runners-up of the competition.

Club Won Runner-up Years won Years runner-up
Lajeadense 2 1 2014, 2015 2011
Pelotas 2 1 2008, 2019 2015
Novo Hamburgo 2 1 2005, 2013 2021
Juventude 2 0 2011, 2012
Internacional 2 0 2009, 2010
São Luiz 2 0 2022, 2023
São José 1 4 2017 2013, 2019, 2020, 2023
Santa Cruz 1 0 2020
Avenida 1 0 2018
Caxias 1 0 2007
Grêmio 1 0 2006
Esportivo 1 0 2004
Glória 1 0 2021
Gaúcho 0 2 2004, 2018
Brasil de Pelotas 0 2 2007, 2012
Cerâmica 0 2 2008, 2010
Canoas 0 2 2005, 2006
Passo Fundo 0 1 - 2022
Aimoré 0 1 2017
Ypiranga 0 1 2009
Guarani-VA 0 1 2014

See also

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References

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