The Taça Guanabara, or Guanabara Cup, is a football tournament organized annually since 1965 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. In its first four editions (1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968), the Taça Guanabara was a tournament in its own right, unrelated to the Rio de Janeiro league, and the winner would represent Rio de Janeiro in the Taça Brasil de Futebol national league competition. From 1969 onward, the cup became the first round of the Rio de Janeiro state league. Since 1982, the winners of the Taça Guanabara would play the winners of the Taça Rio in the Rio de Janeiro state championship final, with the exceptions of 1994 and 1995. The most successful team in the tournament's history is Flamengo, who have won 23 times. Current format Sixteen teams qualified from the state of Rio de Janeiro are divided into two groups of eight teams. The traditional "Big Four" teams in the state, Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama, are seeded. Two of the four are placed in each group. Each team plays seven matches in the group stage: once against every of team of their group. The two highest placed teams in each group qualify to the semifinals. The top team in each group plays the second placed team from the other group in the semifinal in a single match, and the winners compete in the final of the tournament. The champion of the tournament qualified for the Campeonato Carioca Finals to play against the winner of the Taça Rio. History The first season of the tournament was held in 1965. At the time, the tournament was considered a separate competition unrelated to the Campeonato Carioca. In its first years, its purpose was to define the Guanabara representative in the Taça Brasil, but it kept being played even after the Taça Brasil's last edition. In 1971, the tournament became the first stage of Campeonato Carioca but is still considered a separate competition to a certain extent, with a trophy awarded to the winner of the tournament. The current format has been used throughout the tournament's history with the exception of the 1994 and 1995 editions. In 1994, twelve teams were divided into two groups (similar to the current format). However, in the group stage, teams not only played against teams from their same group, but also played against the teams from the other group in