The 2021 Copa Chile (officially known as Copa Chile Easy 2021 due to its sponsorship), was the 41st edition of the Copa Chile, the country's national football cup tournament. The tournament began on 15 June 2021 during the mid-season break due to the 2021 Copa América and ended on 4 September 2021, with the final match on neutral ground.[1][2]Colo-Colo were able to defend the title won in the previous edition of the competition, winning their thirteenth Copa Chile after beating Everton in the final by a 2–0 score.
Format
The 2021 Copa Chile was based on a system of direct elimination with double-legged ties, similar to the Copa del Rey. In the first round, which was played with single-legged ties, clubs from the Primera B and Segunda División Profesional were paired against each other according to geographical criteria, where they played for 14 berths to the second round, in which the winners faced the Primera División clubs which joined the competition in that round. After the second round, and parallel to the Copa América, the round of 16 and the quarter-finals were played, with the semi-finals and final matches being played in late August and early September.[1]
Prizes
The champions of this edition (or the runners-up, if the champions had already qualified) were entitled to earn the right to compete in the 2022 Copa Libertadores, taking the Chile 4 berth, and also earned the right to play the 2022 Supercopa de Chile against the 2021 Campeonato Nacional champions.
The pairings for the first round were announced by the ANFP on 11 June 2021. The 12 teams from the Segunda División and two Primera B teams were drawn against the remaining 14 Primera B teams, according to geographical and safety criteria. Similar to the previous edition, ties in this round were single-legged, with the team from the lower tier hosting the match. Matches in this round were played on 15 and 16 June 2021.[4]
Stadium: Municipal de Recoleta Attendance: 0 Referee: Fabián Aracena
Note: The match originally ended with Deportes Recoleta winning by a 3–1 score, however they were disqualified from the competition for fielding an ineligible player. Due to this, San Luis advanced to the second round.[5][6]
Note: The match originally ended with Lautaro de Buin winning on penalty kicks after a 1–1 draw over 90 minutes, however they were disqualified from the competition for fielding an ineligible player. Due to this, Magallanes advanced to the second round.[7]
The draw for the second round and subsequent phases was held on 15 June 2021.[8] 16 Primera División teams (titleholders Colo-Colo received a bye to the round of 16) entered the competition at this stage and were drawn against the 14 first round winners. The team with the highest seed assigned in the draw hosted the second leg.[9] The first legs were played from 21 to 30 June 2021, while the second legs were played from 25 June to 5 July 2021.
