Campeonato Brasileiro

The Campeonato Brasileiro is the name for the Brazilian soccer league.

Série A

The Série A is the main division of Brazilian football. It's presently composed of 22 teams, but this number will be reduced to 20 teams in 2006.

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From 2003 on, the Série A is disputed in a single stage. 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. Although some purists complain of this system due to the absence of finals, the championship is very balanced, with many teams alternating at the top positions over its course.

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In 2005, each team will play 42 games, 21 home and 21 away, for a total of 462 games. The champion, runner-up, third placed team and fourth placed team win the right of representing Brazil in the Libertadores Cup, the most important South American championship. The champion, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th placed teams also win the right to represent Brazil in the Copa Sul Americana, another South American championship. The four last ranked teams (19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd) descend to next year's Série B.

Related Topics:
Libertadores Cup - Copa Sul Americana

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Teams currently playing Série A

These are the 22 teams playing Série A in 2005:

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Only 8 teams have always played the Série A championship, Atlético Mineiro, Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Flamengo, Internacional, Santos, São Paulo 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.

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Champions of Série A

Titles by team

• 5 titles: Flamengo⁽¹⁾
• 4 titles: Palmeiras, Vasco da Gama
• 3 titles: Corinthians, Internacional, São Paulo
• 2 titles: Grêmio, Santos
• 1 title: Atlético Mineiro, Atlético Paranaense, Bahia, Botafogo, Coritiba, Cruzeiro, Fluminense, Guarani, Sport⁽¹⁾

Titles by state

• São Paulo 13 titles
• Rio de Janeiro 11 titles⁽¹⁾
• Rio Grande do Sul 5 titles
• Minas Gerais 2 titles
• Paraná 2 titles
• Bahia 1 title
• Pernambuco 1 title⁽¹⁾

1The championship of 1987 was very controversial. It was composed of two groups; the módulo verde (green module) had the strongest 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 group, módulo amarelo (yellow module) had teams considered weaker, most of them coming from Série B of 1986, organized by CBF. The rules stated that champion and runner-up of each group would advance to a play-off stage. Flamengo and Internacional, however, refused to play against Sport and Guarani, declaring they were champion and runner-up of Série A, and that it would made no sense they play against champion and runner-up of Série B, an inferior division.

Related Topics:
Clube dos 13 - Copa União - CBF

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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 was split between Flamengo and Sport.

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