In this season, 12 teams gained direct entries into the group stage while the other four berths were decided by the Pré-Copa do Nordeste. For the group stage, the 16 teams were drawn into two groups. Each team will play once against the eight clubs from the other group. Top four teams will qualify for the final stages. Quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played on a single-leg basis and finals will be played on a home-and-away two-legged basis.
Teams
2020 Pré-Copa do Nordeste
The 2020 Pré-Copa do Nordeste was the qualifying tournament of 2020 Copa do Nordeste. It was played from 1 to 15 May 2019. Best placed team in the 2019 CBF ranking not already qualified from Alagoas, Bahia, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe competed to decide four places in the Copa do Nordeste.
Draw
The draw was held on 24 April 2019, 16:00, at the CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. Teams were seeded by their 2019 CBF ranking. The eight teams were drawn into four ties, with the Pot A teams hosting the second leg.
Pot A
Pot B
Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. 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 winner.
Matches
Qualified teams
Schedule
The schedule of the competition will be as follows.
Draw
The draw for the group stage was held on 26 September 2019, 19:30, at Mansion Eventos in Aracaju. The 16 teams were drawn into two groups of eight containing two teams from each of the four pots with the restriction that teams from the same federation could not be drawn against each other. Teams were seeded by their 2019 CBF ranking.
Pot 1
Pot 2
Pot 3
Pot 4
A second draw to determine the home-and-away teams for matches between same-state clubs was held on 25 October 2019 at CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.
Group stage
For the group stage, the 16 teams were drawn into two groups of eight teams each. Each team played on a single round-robin tournament against the eight clubs from the other group. The top four teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stages. The teams were ranked according to points. If tied on points, the following criteria would be used to determine the ranking: 1. Wins; 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Fewest red cards; 5. Fewest yellow cards; 6. Draw in the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation.
Quarter-finals and semi-finals were played on a single-leg basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the leg.
* If tied, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.
Finals will be played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg.
* If tie on aggregate, the penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winner.
Extra time will be not played and away goals rule will be not used in final stages.
Starting from the semi-finals, the teams will be seeded according to their performance in the tournament. The teams will be ranked according to overall points. If tie on overall points, the following criteria will be used to determine the ranking: 1. Overall wins; 2. Overall goal difference; 3. Draw in the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation.
ABC
Bahia
Botafogo-PB
CRB
Fortaleza
Freipaulistano
Ríver
Sport
Imperatriz
Vinícius