Countries | Brazil |
---|---|
Confederation | CONMEBOL |
Founded | 1971 |
Number of teams | 20 |
Relegation to | Série B |
Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
Domestic cup(s) | Copa do Brasil |
International cup(s) | Copa Libertadores Copa Sudamericana |
Current champions | São Paulo (2007) |
Website | http://www.cbf.com.br/ |
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The Série A (informally called Brasileirão) is the highest division of Brazilian football. It is composed of 20 teams; currently, the bottom four teams in Série A are relegated and the top four teams in Série B are promoted.
Due to its large continental size and historical peculiarities, Brazil has a short history of national competitions. The modern Campeonato Brasileiro only started in 1971, supported by the then military regime and made easier by the advancements in in civil aviation and air transport. Therefore, unlike other football nations, every state of Brazil have its own state competition which were considered until the 1950's the main competitions and between 1960's and 1980's generally regarded as important as the national ones.
Controversies aside, the CBF do not officially recognize the national tournaments from 1959 to 1970 as national title. This includes the Taça Brasil, it had clubs from all regions of Brazil and Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa popularly known as "Robertão" ( Big Bob ), it had clubs from the most representative regions of Brazil.
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All the big clubs from São Paulo, except Palmeiras, withdrew from the 1979 competition. They protested against the odd system of tier qualification which made their rivals, Palmeiras and Guarani, enter only in the final phase (due to them being previous-year finalists) and also asking for the same privileges. Indeed oddly enough, Guarani finished in the top 12 playing only 3 games and Palmeiras finished third despite playing only 5 games in a tournament with 96 entrants.
In 1984, Juventus, a small club from São Paulo, managed to qualify for the Série A. Participants of that year could be promoted from and relegated to Série B in the middle of the tournament. Juventus thus started the tournament in the premiership, was relegated in the middle of the tournament but eventually managed to clinch the Série B title. Despite this the team was not promoted to Série A in the following year and failed to qualify to it from the state championship.
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.
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 Copa Libertadores. 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 lowest 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.
The seasons with the largest number of entrants of the competition were: 2000 (116 entrants), 1979 (94 entrants) and 1986 (80 entrants).
Since 2003, the Série A has been contested in a double round-robin format and the team with most points is declared champion. There is no final match, which is a very controversial subject. Prior to 2003, the Brazilian championship had 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 accumulation over a season. Although some purists complain that this system lacks the dramatic scenes of playoffs and finals, the competition has so far shown to be well balanced, without a small number of clubs dominating the league, a phenomenon often found in many European leagues.
For the 2006 season, the number of contestants was reduced to 20 and CBF claims it to be the "definitive" format. In 2006, a limit on the number of foreign players was set, such that no team can have more than 3 foreign players on the field or on the bench in a single match.
The only club to win a championship undefeated was Internacional, in 1979, with 15 wins and 7 draws. Also, in a match between Goiás and Cruzeiro, in the same year, 14 players were sent off.
Roberto Dinamite is the player with most goals scored in Campeonato Brasileiro history. Dinamite scored 190 in 20 seasons (1971-1989).
As of 2007, only Cruzeiro, Flamengo, Internacional and Vasco participated in all editions of the Série A.
There are 20 teams playing the Série A in 2008:
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Below is the table of Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champions according to the Brazilian Football Confederation:[1]
Year | Winner | Runner-up | Comments | Entrants | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1971 Details |
Atlético Mineiro![]() |
São Paulo![]() |
Three-team final stage. Botafogo eventually finished third. | 20 | |
Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Comments | Entrants |
1972 Details |
Palmeiras![]() |
0 - 0 | Botafogo![]() |
Palmeiras declared champions due to better season record | 26 |
Year | Winner | Runner-up | Comments | Entrants | |
1973 Details |
Palmeiras![]() |
São Paulo![]() |
Four-team final stage. Palmeiras drew São Paulo 0-0 on last stage match | 40 | |
Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Comments | Entrants |
1974 Details |
Vasco![]() |
2 - 1 | Cruzeiro![]() |
Four-team final stage. Extra tie-break match | 40 |
1975 Details |
Internacional![]() |
1 - 0 | Cruzeiro![]() |
46 | |
1976 Details |
Internacional![]() |
2 - 0 | Corinthians![]() |
54 | |
1977 Details |
São Paulo![]() |
0 - 0 | Atlético Mineiro![]() |
São Paulo won 3-2 on penalties. | 60 |
1978 Details |
Guarani![]() |
1 - 0 1 - 0 |
Palmeiras![]() |
74 | |
1979 Details |
Internacional![]() |
2 - 0 2 - 1 |
Vasco![]() |
Internacional became champions without losing one single game, a deed yet unmatched. | 96 |
1980 Details |
Flamengo![]() |
0 - 1 3 - 2 |
Atlético Mineiro![]() |
104 | |
1981 Details |
Grêmio![]() |
2 - 1 1 - 0 |
São Paulo![]() |
88 | |
1982 Details |
Flamengo![]() |
1 - 1 0 - 0 1 - 0 |
Grêmio![]() |
88 | |
1983 Details |
Flamengo![]() |
1 - 2 3 - 0 |
Santos![]() |
88 | |
1984 Details |
Fluminense![]() |
1 - 0 0 - 0 |
Vasco![]() |
72 | |
1985 Details |
Coritiba![]() |
1 - 1 |
Bangu![]() |
Coritiba won 6-5 on penalties. | 40 |
1986 Details |
São Paulo![]() |
1 - 1 3 - 3 |
Guarani![]() |
São Paulo won 4-3 on penalties. | 80 |
1987(1) Details |
Sport![]() |
1 - 1 1 - 0 |
Guarani![]() |
Four-team final stage turned home-and-away playoff | 32 |
1988 Details |
Bahia![]() |
2 - 1 0 - 0 |
Internacional![]() |
24 | |
1989 Details |
Vasco![]() |
1 - 0 | São Paulo![]() |
Second final-series match unnecessary as Vasco had a better season record and won the away match | 22 |
1990 Details |
Corinthians![]() |
1 - 0 1 - 0 |
São Paulo![]() |
20 | |
1991 Details |
São Paulo![]() |
1 - 0 0 - 0 |
Bragantino![]() |
20 | |
1992 Details |
Flamengo![]() |
3 - 0 2 - 2 |
Botafogo![]() |
20 | |
1993 Details |
Palmeiras![]() |
1 - 0 2 - 0 |
Vitória![]() |
32 | |
1994 Details |
Palmeiras![]() |
3 - 1 1 - 1 |
Corinthians![]() |
24 | |
1995 Details |
Botafogo![]() |
2 - 1 1 - 1 |
Santos![]() |
24 | |
1996 Details |
Grêmio![]() |
0 - 2 2 - 0 |
Portuguesa![]() |
Grêmio declared champions due to better season record. | 24 |
1997 Details |
Vasco![]() |
0 - 0 0 - 0 |
Palmeiras![]() |
Vasco da Gama declared champions due to better season record | 26 |
1998 Details |
Corinthians![]() |
2 - 2 1 - 1 2 - 0 |
Cruzeiro![]() |
24 | |
1999 Details |
Corinthians![]() |
2 - 3 2 - 0 0 - 0 |
Atlético Mineiro![]() |
22 | |
2000(2) Details |
Vasco![]() |
1 - 1 3 - 1 |
São Caetano![]() |
Organized by Clube dos 13 on CBF's behalf, and dubbed Copa João Havelange | 116 |
2001 Details |
Atlético Paranaense![]() |
4 - 2 1 - 0 |
São Caetano![]() |
28 | |
2002 Details |
Santos![]() |
2 - 0 3 - 2 |
Corinthians![]() |
26 | |
Year | Winner | Runner-up | Comments | Entrants | |
2003 Details |
Cruzeiro![]() 100 pts / 46 matches |
Santos![]() 87 pts / 46 matches |
From 2003 onwards, the regular season group play followed by play-offs was replaced by a double round-robin system. The team with the most points at the end of the season is declared the champion. | 24 | |
2004 Details |
Santos![]() 89 pts / 46 matches |
Atlético Paranaense![]() 86 pts / 46 matches |
24 | ||
2005 Details |
Corinthians![]() 81 pts / 42 matches |
Internacional![]() 78 pts / 42 matches |
A refereeing scandal led to refixturing of matches which turned the outcome of the original championship impossible to assert | 22 | |
2006 Details |
São Paulo![]() 78 pts / 38 matches |
Internacional![]() 69 pts / 38 matches |
20 | ||
2007 Details |
São Paulo![]() 77 pts / 38 matches |
Santos![]() 62 pts / 38 matches |
São Paulo becomes the first team to officially win five Brazilian championships. | 20 |
Below is the champion and runner-up of the 1987 Copa União, which is a competition organized by the Clube dos 13, but it is not recognized by the Brazilian Football Confederation as a Campeonato Brasileiro. However, several sources list them as that year champions together or instead of the official champion:[2]
Year | Winner | Runner-up | Comments | Entrants | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987(1) Details |
Flamengo![]() |
1 - 1 1 - 0 |
Internacional![]() |
Organized by Clube dos 13, dubbed Copa União, not recognized by CBF, but recognized by the Clube dos 13, and CND[3] | 16 |
Below are the titles by team, according to the Brazilian Football Confederation, thus excluding the 1987 Copa União, won by Flamengo:
Club | State | Titles |
---|---|---|
São Paulo | ![]() |
5 titles |
Corinthians | ![]() |
4 titles |
Flamengo (1) | ![]() |
4 titles (not counting the 1987 Copa União) |
Palmeiras | ![]() |
4 titles |
Vasco(2) | ![]() |
4 titles |
Internacional | ![]() |
3 titles |
Grêmio | ![]() |
2 titles |
Santos | ![]() |
2 titles |
Atlético-MG | ![]() |
1 title |
Atlético-PR | ![]() |
1 title |
Bahia | ![]() |
1 title |
Botafogo | ![]() |
1 title |
Coritiba | ![]() |
1 title |
Cruzeiro | ![]() |
1 title |
Fluminense | ![]() |
1 title |
Guarani | ![]() |
1 title |
Sport(1) | ![]() |
1 title |
Below are the titles by state, according to the Brazilian Football Confederation, thus excluding the 1987 Copa União, won by Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro state:
State | Titles |
---|---|
![]() |
16 titles |
![]() |
10 titles(1) (2) (not counting the 1987 Copa União) |
![]() |
5 titles |
![]() |
2 titles |
![]() |
2 titles |
![]() |
1 title |
![]() |
1 title(1) |
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2009
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Football in Brazil
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Nationwide competitions in Brazilian football | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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State competitions in Brazilian Football | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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