Copa do Nordeste: Potiguar Clássico Rei kicks off state derbies Tuesday | OneFootball

State rivals América de Natal and ABC will face off in the third round of the 2026 Copa do NordesteCredits: Gabriel Leite / AFC and Disclosure/@abcfc

The Clássico Rei between América de Natal and ABC will kick off the round of state rivalry matchups in the 2026 Copa do Nordeste on Tuesday night (7), at 7 p.m. Brasília time, at Arena das Dunas. The clash brings together the rivals from Rio Grande do Norte, who are experiencing opposite situations in the standings.

América is in second place in Group C with four points — they drew 0-0 with Jacuipense-BA and beat Maranhão 2-0 in their opener. A win could put them on track for qualification to the quarterfinals.

ABC, meanwhile, sits in fourth place in Group D — each group has five teams — and has collected just one point, from a 1-1 draw with Ceará in the opening round. They were then beaten 1-0 by Sport and see today’s match as a chance to recover in the standings.

At 7:30 p.m., Ferroviário-CE and Jacuipense-BA will face each other at Presidente Vargas, in Fortaleza. This will be the only interstate match of the round.

Copa do Nordeste: Ferroviário-CE is in third place in Group C and looks to climb the standingsCredits: Disclosure/@ferroviarioac and @___carlinhos7

Rivalries

In a revamped format for this season, the Copa do Nordeste will feature nine rivalry matches in the third round of the group stage. In addition to the Rio Grande do Norte derby between América de Natal and ABC, there will also be state matchups in Ceará, Paraíba, Bahia, Pernambuco, Piauí, Maranhão, Sergipe, and Alagoas. Check them out:

Wednesday (8)

Ceará-CE x Fortaleza-CE

Sousa-PB x Botafogo-PB

Vitória-BA x Juazeirense-BA

Sport-PE x Retrô-PE

Fluminense-PI x Piauí-PI

Imperatriz-MA x Maranhão-MA

Thursday (9)

Itabaiana-SE x Confiança-SE

ASA-AL x CRB-AL

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.