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Brazilian clubs may also compete in other national tournaments of lesser significance, such as the Copa Do Brasil , as well as tournaments at the continental, regional, and State level.

The competition was established in 1971 replacing two preceding national competitions, the Taça Brasil and the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa . The Campeonato Brasileiro is also known in Brazil as "''Brasileirão''", which would translate to "Big Brazilian".

It is composed of 3 divisions:
  • Série A (First Division)

  • Série B (Second Division)

  • Série C (Third Division)



SéRIE A

The Série A is the main division of Brazilian football. It's presently composed of 20 teams, of which the bottom 4 teams from Série A being relegated and the top 4 teams from Série B are promoted.

Historically, the championship was famous for being extremely disorganized, having its rules changed from season to season (and sometimes even during the middle of a season), mainly to prevent traditional clubs from being Relegated (notably in 1993, 1996 and 2000) or because of lawsuits filed by clubs to prevent them being Relegated (1997 and 2000). However, since 2003, the Série A has been disputed in a Double Round-robin format. In other words, each team plays against each other home and away, and the team with most points is declared champion. There is no final match, what is a very controversial subject. Prior to 2003, the Brazilian championship has traditionally been decided with some type of playoff format (most commonly the "Octagonal", where the top 8 regular season teams comprise a single elimination tournament), rather than the European model of points accumulated over a season. Although some purists complain that this system lacks the drama of playoffs and finals, the championship has so far shown to be well balanced, without the limited number of clubs dominating the league as found in many European leagues.

In 2005, each team played 42 games, 21 home and 21 away, for a total of 462 games. The champion and runner-up automatically qualified for the 2006 Libertadores Cup . The third and fourth placed teams may also represent Brazil in the Libertadores by defeating foreign clubs to be determined by Conmebol in pre-tournament trials. The champion and 5th through 11th placed teams also win the right to represent Brazil in the Copa Sudamericana , another South American championship of lower stature. The four last ranked teams (19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd) were Relegated to the following year's Série B.

Eleven matches of the 2005 competition were annulled due to a Match-fixing Scandal and had to be replayed.

For the 2006 season, the number of contestants was reduced to 20, and CBF claims it to be the "definitive" format.


Teams currently playing Série A

These are the 20 teams playing Série A in 2006:

  • Only 4 teams have always played the Série A championship: Cruzeiro, Flamengo, Internacional and Vasco da Gama.


  • São Paulo, Santos and Corinthians did not play the Campeonato Brasileiro of 1979 alleging that it had too many teams, but as 1979's championship had no divisions (all teams disputed a single division), they were not removed from 1980's Série A.



Champions of Série A



Titles by team

Official numbers, supported by .

  • 4 titles: Corinthians, Flamengo(''' 1 '''), Palmeiras, Vasco da Gama(''' 2 ''')

  • 3 titles: Internacional, São Paulo

  • 2 titles: Grêmio, Santos

  • 1 title: Atlético Mineiro, Atlético Paranaense, Bahia, Botafogo, Coritiba, Cruzeiro, Fluminense, Guarani, Sport(''' 1 ''')



Titles by state


1The championship of 1987 was very controversial. Due to organization problems in the previous championship, CBF allowed Clube Dos 13 to organize the 1987 Série A. So the Championship was composed of two modules; the ''Módulo verde'' (green module) had the most popular teams, most of them coming from Série A of 1986, and was a championship in itself, organized by Clube dos 13 and dubbed Copa União (Union Cup). The other module, ''Módulo amarelo'' (yellow module), was organized by CBF and had teams considered weaker, most of them coming from Série B of 1986, though it also included previous-year finalists Guarani and 4th-place América-RJ.

The original rules did not tell anything about champions and runner-ups of both groups meeting in a play-off stage, but CBF decided to change the rules and interfere in ''Módulo verde'', when realizing how successful and profitable the Clube dos 13's championship was.

Suddenly CBF stated that champion and runner-up of each group would advance to a play-off stage. Flamengo and Internacional (''Módulo verde''), however, refused to play against Sport and Guarani (''Módulo amarelo''), declaring they were champion and runner-up of Série A, and that CBF had changed the rules in the middle of the championship. Plus, that it would made no sense they play against champion and runner-up of Série B, an inferior division.

Clube dos 13 and CND (Conselho Nacional de Desportos - "''Sports National Council''") supported Flamengo and Internacional and declared Flamengo as the 1987 Brazilian Champions.

For CONMEBOL and CBF, Sport was declared champion, and Flamengo and Internacional were disqualified. Most people in Brazil, however, including official publications, consider that the title belongs to Flamengo.


2Despite ratified by organized this competition which not obeyed the promotion and relegation rules of 1999 Campeonato Brasileiro. The championship was created because Gama , in the 1999 championship contested and won in a common justice court and reverted its relegation. After Gama withdrew its protests in the common justice, the team was included in the championship.



SéRIE B

The Série B is the intermediate division of Brazilian football. In 2006 it is composed of 20 teams.

In 2005, the Série B was composed of three rounds:
  • In the first round, each team plays against every other, much like what happens in Série A. Differently from Série A, though, each team plays against the other only once. Thus, each team plays 21 games, 11 home and 10 away, for a total of 462 games.

  • The eight best ranked teams advance to the second round, where they are divided in two groups of four. Teams in each group play against each other home and away.

  • The two best ranked teams in each group advance to the final round. Those four teams are put in a single group, and play against each other home and away. The team with most points is declared champion.


The Série B's four best placed clubs are Promoted to next year's Série A, and the four last placed clubs are relegated to the following year's Série C.

In 2005, the champion and runner-up were promoted to the following year's Série A, and the six last ranked teams in the first round were relegated to 2006's Série C.

Starting from 2006, the Série B will be disputed in the same round robin format used in Série A, the top four clubs will be promoted to Série A and the bottom four will be relegated to Série C.


Teams currently playing Série B

These are the 20 teams playing Série B in 2006:


Champions of Série B



Titles by Team

  • 2 titles: Paysandu

  • 1 title: América Mineiro, Atlético Paranaense, Bragantino, Brasiliense, Campo Grande, Criciúma, Gama, Goiás, Grêmio, Guarani, Inter de Limeira, Juventude, Juventus, Londrina, Palmeiras, Paraná, Sampaio Corrêa, Sport, Tuna Luso, Uberlândia, União São João, Villa Nova



Titles by State



SéRIE C

The Série C is the lowest division of Brazilian football. Any professional or semi-professional team can apply, but only 64 teams take part in the tournament. The teams that were relegated from Série B are joined by teams qualified for each state federation. Qualification rules vary, some federations use the state tournaments as qualification tournaments, others organize exclusive qualification tournaments to the Série C.

In 2005, the Série C was composed of five rounds:
  • In the first round, the 64 teams were divided in 16 groups of 4 teams each. These groups are regional, in other words, only teams from neighboring states can be in a same group. This is done so because many teams of the Série C are poor, and can't afford the expenses of a far travel to play in a distant state. Teams in each group play against each other in home and away games.

  • The two best ranked teams of each group advance to the second round, where they are paired 2-by-2 and play home and away games. The teams are once again paired with teams of neighboring states.

  • The team with most points in each pair advances to the third round. Those 16 teams are once again paired and play home and away games. The pairing tries not to pair teams of distant states, although this is sometimes not possible.

  • Once again, the team with most points in each pair advances to the fourth round. Those 8 teams are once again paired to play home and away games.

  • Finally, the team with nost points in each pair advances to the final round. The four teams are put in a single group, and play against each other in home and away games. The team with most points is declared champion.


To be champion of Série C in 2005, a team would have to play 18 games. The championship is composed of 260 games.

The four best placed teams of Série C are promoted to the next year's Série B.


Champions of Série C


2 Etti Jundiaí was later renamed Paulista.



Titles by Team

1 title: Atlético Goianiense, Avaí, Brasiliense, Etti Jundiaí (Paulista), Fluminense, Ituano, Novorizontino, Olaria, Remo, Sampaio Corrêa, Tuna Luso, União Barbarense, União São João, Vila Nova, XV de Piracicaba


Titles by State



TRIVIA

  • In 1974, Série A had 40 competing clubs in the first round, divided in 2 groups of 20. The top 11 clubs from each group plus the clubs with the 2 biggest average attendances would qualify for the second round. It was the only time that attendance was used as a qualifying criteria in a professional competition in Brazil.

  • From 1975 to 1980, two points would be awarded for a victory, like the rest of the world at the time. But if the win was by three goals or more, an extra point would be awarded for the winning team.

  • The first time the Série A had the same format for two consecutive years were the seasons of 1998 and 1999. However, the 1980 and 1983 championships had the same format.

  • In 1991, the Série A was supposed to be disputed in a single Round-robin format with 20 teams. However, the teams claimed that "the supporters only go to the stadium in the finals" and a knockout stage with the top 4 clubs was instated.

  • In 1999, an averaging relegation system similar to the one used in the Primera División Argentina was adopted. The two clubs with the worst point results in the first stage of the two previous seasons were to be relegated. However, this system only lasted for a single season.

  • The seasons with more entrants were: 2000 (116 entrants), 1979 (94 entrants) and 1986 (80 entrants).

  • In 2006, for the first time, a limit on the number of foreign players was imposed. No team can have more than 3 foreign players on the field or on the bench in a single match.

  • From 1980 to 1985, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was known as Taça de Ouro (Gold Cup), Série B was known as Taça de Prata (Silver Cup) and Série C was known as Taça de Bronze (Bronze Cup) and it had a curious promotion system: The top four clubs from Taça de Prata would enter the second round of Taça de Ouro right in the same season, while the 5th and 6th places would get promoted to Taça de Ouro in the next season.

  • Relegation was instituted only in the 1988 season. Previously, places in the championship were given based on performance on State championships or by invitation.

  • The only club to win a championship undefeated was Internacional , in 1979, with 15 wins and 7 draws.

  • Roberto Dinamite is the player with most goals scored in Campeonato Brasileiro history. Dinamite scored 190 in 20 seasons (1971-1989).

  • As of 2006, only Internacional , Flamengo , Cruzeiro , Vasco Da Gama and Flamengo participated in all editions of the Série A.

  • The 2006 season has seen some players wearing strange numbers on their shirts. Flamengo's Luizão will be wearing the 111 shirt during the entire season and Goiás' Goalkeeper Harley wore the 400 shirt, celebrating the number of matches he played for that team. Fixed numbering is not a common practice in Brazilian football, but clubs like São Paulo , Cruzeiro , Corinthians and the aforementioned Flamengo adopt it.

  • All the big clubs from São Paulo , except Palmeiras withdrew from the 1979 championship, alleging it had too many the teams. The championship had 94 entrants that year.

  • In a match between Goiás and Cruzeiro, in 1979, 14 players were sent off.



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