# 2018 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C

The 2018 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C was a football competition held in Brazil, equivalent to the third division. The competition started on 14 April and ended on 22 September 2018.
Twenty teams competed in the tournament, twelve returning from the 2017 season, four promoted from the 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D (Operário Ferroviário, Globo, Atlético Acreano and Juazeirense), and four relegated from the 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (Luverdense, Santa Cruz, ABC and Náutico).
Botafogo-SP, Bragantino, Cuiabá and Operário Ferroviário qualified for the semi-finals and were promoted to the 2019 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B.
Operário Ferroviário won the title after defeating Cuiabá in the final.

## Teams

| Pos. | Relegated from 2017 Série B |
| 17º | Luverdense |
| 18º | Santa Cruz |
| 19º | ABC |
| 20º | Náutico |
| Pos. | Promoted from 2017 Série D |
| 1º | Operário Ferroviário |
| 2º | Globo |
| 3° | Atlético Acreano |
| 4º | Juazeirense |

### Number of teams by state

| Number of teams | State | Team(s) |
| 3 | Pernambuco | Náutico, Salgueiro and Santa Cruz |
| 2 | Mato Grosso | Cuiabá and Luverdense |
| 2 | Minas Gerais | Tombense and Tupi |
| 2 | Rio Grande do Norte | ABC and Globo |
| 2 | São Paulo | Botafogo-SP and Bragantino |
| 1 | Acre | Atlético Acreano |
| 1 | Bahia | Juazeirense |
| 1 | Pará | Remo |
| 1 | Paraíba | Botafogo-PB |
| 1 | Paraná | Operário Ferroviário |
| 1 | Rio de Janeiro | Volta Redonda |
| 1 | Rio Grande do Sul | Ypiranga |
| 1 | Santa Catarina | Joinville |
| 1 | Sergipe | Confiança |

## Personnel

| Team | Home city | Manager |
| ABC | Natal | Ranielle Ribeiro |
| Atlético Acreano | Rio Branco | Álvaro Miguéis |
| Botafogo-PB | João Pessoa | Evaristo Piza |
| Botafogo-SP | Ribeirão Preto | Léo Condé |
| Bragantino | Bragança Paulista | Marcelo Veiga |
| Confiança | Aracaju | Betinho |
| Cuiabá | Cuiabá | Itamar Schülle |
| Globo | Ceará-Mirim | Higor César |
| Joinville | Joinville | Pedrinho Maradona |
| Juazeirense | Juazeiro | Evandro Guimarães |
| Luverdense | Lucas do Rio Verde | Maico Gaúcho |
| Náutico | Recife | Márcio Goiano |
| Operário Ferroviário | Ponta Grossa | Gerson Gusmão |
| Remo | Belém | Netão |
| Salgueiro | Salgueiro | Sérgio China |
| Santa Cruz | Recife | Roberto Fernandes |
| Tombense | Tombos | Eugênio Souza |
| Tupi | Juiz de Fora | Aílton Ferraz |
| Volta Redonda | Volta Redonda | Moacir Júnior |
| Ypiranga | Erechim | Márcio Nunes |

## 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 is only between two teams). If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would be used (except if both teams shared the same stadium); 5. Fewest red cards; 6. Fewest yellow cards; 7. Draw in the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (Regulations Article 15).
The top four teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stages.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Náutico | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 26 | 22 | +4 | 31 | Advance to Final stages |
| 2 | Atlético Acreano | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 22 | +3 | 30 | Advance to Final stages |
| 3 | Santa Cruz | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 22 | 13 | +9 | 28 | Advance to Final stages |
| 4 | Botafogo-PB | 18 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 22 | 17 | +5 | 26 | Advance to Final stages |
| 5 | Confiança | 18 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 24 | 25 | −1 | 23 | |
| 6 | Remo | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 20 | −2 | 22 | |
| 7 | Globo | 18 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 22 | |
| 8 | ABC | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 21 | |
| 9 | Juazeirense | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 20 | −4 | 19 | Relegation to 2019 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D |
| 10 | Salgueiro | 18 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 19 | −8 | 17 | Relegation to 2019 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | ABC | AAC | BOT | CON | GLO | JZE | NAU | REM | SAL | STA |
| ABC | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 |
| Atlético Acreano | 3–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Botafogo-PB | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Confiança | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Globo | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Juazeirense | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Náutico | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Remo | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Salgueiro | 3–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Santa Cruz | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Botafogo-SP | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 14 | +16 | 35 | Advance to Final stages |
| 2 | Operário Ferroviário | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 25 | 17 | +8 | 35 | Advance to Final stages |
| 3 | Cuiabá | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 32 | 21 | +11 | 32 | Advance to Final stages |
| 4 | Bragantino | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 29 | Advance to Final stages |
| 5 | Luverdense | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 27 | 25 | +2 | 24 | |
| 6 | Tombense | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 22 | |
| 7 | Ypiranga | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 25 | 27 | −2 | 22 | |
| 8 | Volta Redonda | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 25 | −7 | 20 | |
| 9 | Tupi | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 19 | 30 | −11 | 20 | Relegation to Série D |
| 10 | Joinville | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 35 | −22 | 14 | Relegation to Série D |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BOT | BRA | CUI | JEC | LUV | OPE | TOM | TUP | VRE | YPI |
| Botafogo-SP | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Bragantino | 0–2 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Cuiabá | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 5–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Joinville | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | — | 4–2 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Luverdense | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 |
| Operário Ferroviário | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Tombense | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Tupi | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 4–1 |
| Volta Redonda | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | — | 3–2 |
| Ypiranga | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | — |

## Final Stages

Starting from the quarter-finals, the teams played a single-elimination tournament with the following rules:
* Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg (Regulations Article 17).
* If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 16).
Starting from the semi-finals, the teams 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. Draw in the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (Regulations Article 17).

### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| Bragantino | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Náutico | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| Náutico | 1 | 1 | 2 | Bragantino | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | | | | |
| | | | | Operário Ferroviário (p) | 0 | 0 | 0 (4) | | | | |
| Santa Cruz | 1 | 0 | 1 | Operário Ferroviário (p) | 0 | 0 | 0 (4) | | | | |
| Operário Ferroviário | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Operário Ferroviário | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | | Operário Ferroviário | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | Cuiabá | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Cuiabá | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | Cuiabá | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Atlético Acreano | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| Atlético Acreano | 0 | 2 | 2 | Cuiabá | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | Botafogo-SP | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | |
| Botafogo-PB | 1 | 0 | 1 (3) | Botafogo-SP | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | |
| Botafogo-SP (p) | 0 | 1 | 1 (4) | | | | | | | | |

### Quarter-finals

The matches were played between 18 and 27 August 2018.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Bragantino | 4–2 | Náutico | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Santa Cruz | 1–3 | Operário Ferroviário | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| Cuiabá | 4–2 | Atlético Acreano | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Botafogo-PB | 1–1 (3–4 p) | Botafogo-SP | 1–0 | 0–1 |

#### Group C

Bragantino won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals

#### Group D

Operário Ferroviário won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals

#### Group E

Cuiabá won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals

#### Group F

Tied 1–1 on aggregate, Botafogo-SP won on penalties and advanced to the semi-finals

### Semi-finals

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Host |
| 2 | Operário Ferroviário | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 28 | 18 | +10 | 38 | 2nd leg |
| 4 | Bragantino | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 33 | 1st leg |
| 1 | Botafogo-SP | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 15 | +16 | 38 | 2nd leg |
| 3 | Cuiabá | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 36 | 23 | +13 | 36 | 1st leg |
The matches were played between 1 and 9 September 2018.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Bragantino | 0–0 (2–4 p) | Operário Ferroviário | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Cuiabá | 3–0 | Botafogo-SP | 0–0 | 3–0 |

#### Group G

Tied 0–0 on aggregate, Operário Ferroviário won on penalties and advanced to the finals

#### Group H

Cuiabá won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the finals

### Finals

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Host |
| 1 | Cuiabá | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 39 | 23 | +16 | 40 | 2nd leg |
| 2 | Operário Ferroviário | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 28 | 18 | +10 | 40 | 1st leg |
The matches were played on 16 and 22 September 2018.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Operário Ferroviário | 4–3 | Cuiabá | 3–3 | 1–0 |

#### Group I
## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Caio Dantas | Botafogo-SP | 11 |
| 2 | Felipe Augusto | Botafogo-SP | 9 |
| 2 | Léo Ceará | Confiança | 9 |
| 2 | Marino | Cuiabá | 9 |
| 5 | Rafael Barros | Atlético Acreano | 8 |
| 6 | Eduardo | Atlético Acreano | 7 |
| 6 | Eduardo Ramos | Cuiabá | 7 |
| 6 | Jenison | Cuiabá | 7 |
| 6 | José Ortigoza | Náutico | 7 |
| 10 | Marcos Aurélio | Botafogo-PB | 6 |
| 10 | Neto | Atlético Acreano | 6 |
| 10 | Patrick Carvalho | Tupi | 6 |
| 10 | Paulo Renê | Luverdense | 6 |
| 10 | Pipico | Santa Cruz | 6 |
| 10 | Robinho | Náutico | 6 |
| 10 | Romarinho | Globo | 6 |
Source:CBF