The Brasileirão

The Brasileirão is contested by 20 clubs each season. Every club plays the other 19 twice — once at home, once away — for 38 matches in total. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat. The club with the most points at the end of the season is the Brazilian champion. The bottom four clubs are relegated to Série B, the second tier, and replaced by the top four finishers from that division.

Brazilian national champions have been recognised from competitions dating back to the Taça Brasil, which began in 1959, although the format has changed several times across the league's history. The current double round-robin format, with no playoffs, has been used since 2003. The league is run by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and is officially known as the Brasileirão Betano for sponsorship reasons. The Brasileirão is one of the most widely followed domestic leagues in the Americas and is broadcast internationally.

The season usually runs from April to early December, with no winter break — Brazilian football's calendar follows the South American pattern rather than the European August-to-May model. Matches are played most weekends, with selected fixtures on Wednesday or Thursday evenings during the busiest weeks. Tiebreakers for clubs level on points begin with total wins, goal difference and goals scored. Head-to-head results are then used when exactly two clubs are tied, followed by disciplinary record and, if needed, drawing lots.

The Brasileirão's calendar-year format works because most South American domestic leagues use the same schedule, and the Copa Libertadores — South America's main continental competition — also runs through the calendar year. This means Brazilian clubs can play domestic and continental matches within the same broad seasonal rhythm.

The four Brasileirão clubs finishing in the bottom four positions at the end of the season are automatically relegated to Série B. There are no relegation play-offs. The clubs that replace them come up from Série B: the top four finishers in the second tier are promoted automatically. The four-up, four-down structure has been in place since the league moved to its current 20-club format.

Brazilian football is unusual in that many of its traditionally large clubs have experienced relegation from the top flight. Palmeiras, Corinthians, Santos, Vasco da Gama, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, Grêmio, Internacional and Atlético Mineiro have all spent time outside Série A in the modern era. Flamengo and São Paulo are the major exceptions usually highlighted as clubs that have never been relegated from the Brazilian top division. The combination of strong second-tier competition, demanding travel and financial instability has produced more movement between divisions than in many major European leagues.

In recent seasons, the top six Brasileirão finishers have qualified for the next Copa Libertadores. The top four enter the group stage directly, while the fifth and sixth-placed clubs enter earlier qualifying rounds. Other Libertadores places can also come through the Copa do Brasil and through clubs winning South American competitions, so the exact allocation can vary by season. Brazilian clubs have won the Copa Libertadores 25 times, level with Argentina for the most by any country, and have also won the FIFA Club World Cup multiple times.

The best-placed Brasileirão clubs not already qualified for the Libertadores usually qualify for the Copa Sudamericana, South America's second-tier club competition. The precise places can shift because cup winners, Libertadores winners and Sudamericana winners may already have qualified through the league. Brazilian clubs have dominated South American club football in the modern era, winning every Copa Libertadores from 2019 to 2025.

Brazilian football's first national-scale competition recognised in the modern title history was the Taça Brasil, launched in 1959. Originally a knockout tournament between regional state league champions, it ran until 1968 before being followed by the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, which used a league format for leading clubs from major states. The Brazilian Football Confederation officially recognises both competitions as part of the history of the Brazilian championship. The current Campeonato Brasileiro name was adopted in 1989.

The format has gone through several major changes. The original knockout structure gave way to group stages and playoffs across the 1970s and 1980s. The 1987 Copa União, when 13 major clubs broke away to form their own competition, briefly split Brazilian football — although the CBF officially recognises Sport Recife as the 1987 champion, with Flamengo and many supporters continuing to dispute the title. The current 20-club double round-robin format has been used since 2003 and has stabilised the competition into the recognisable shape used today.