[1] Twenty-four teams competed to decide four places in the Copa do Nordeste.
Starting from this season, the following format changes were implemented: The three best placed federations in the 2021 CBF state ranking (Ceará, Bahia, and Pernambuco) earned three berths in the tournament, while the remaining six federations earned two.
[1] The draw for the group stage was held on 2 September 2021, 12:00, at the CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.
[5] The teams were seeded by their 2021 CBF ranking (shown in parentheses) and divided in four pots.
For the third round, the eight winners of the second round were allocated without any draw into the following four ties, with the team in each tie with the higher CBF ranking hosting the second leg.