Campeonato Brasileiro Série C facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Campeonato Brasileiro Série C

Founded	1981; 44 years ago (1981)
Country	Brazil
Number of teams	20
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Série B
Relegation to	Série D
Current champions	Amazonas (1st title) (2023)
Most championships	Vila Nova (3 titles)
TV partners	DAZN Nosso Futebol
Website	Official website: https://www.cbf.com.br/futebol-brasileiro/competicoes/campeonato-brasileiro-serie-c

The Campeonato Brasileiro Série C is a super exciting football league in Brazil! It's the third most important league in the country. Think of it like a stepping stone for teams hoping to reach the top.

Unlike the top two leagues, Série C doesn't have teams playing each other twice (home and away) all the time. This is because many teams don't have a lot of money for long trips. So, the tournament is set up with groups based on regions. This way, teams from far away don't have to travel huge distances in the first part of the competition.

Since 2009, the Série C has 20 teams. Before that, it had many more! In the current setup, all 20 teams play each other once. The top eight teams then move on to a knockout stage, like a mini-tournament. The four teams that make it to the semi-finals get to move up to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, which is the second division. But watch out! The four teams at the very bottom of the league get moved down to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, the fourth division.

How the Tournament Has Changed

The way Série C is played has changed quite a bit over the years. Before 2009, a lot more teams could join, sometimes up to 64! Teams that were moved down from Série B could join, along with teams from each state. How teams qualified for Série C used to be different in every state. Some states used their own local tournaments, while others had special games just to pick teams for Série C.

From 2009, the qualifying rounds were played in four groups of five teams. In 2011, the final part of the tournament had two groups of four teams. Starting in 2012, the first part of the competition was played with two groups of ten teams. This meant more games were played. This format stayed the same until 2020. Then, they decided to change the second phase back to two groups of four. This helped decide which teams would move up and play in the finals, just like in 2011. In 2022, the first phase changed again. Teams played 19 matches in a single round. The best eight teams went to the second phase, which kept the same format as before. The four teams with the fewest points were moved down to the lower league.

Teams in the 2024 Série C

Here are the teams playing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C in 2024:

Champions of Série C

The Campeonato Brasileiro has been around since 1971. But, there were some years when the third division tournament wasn't held. This often happened because the top two divisions had too many clubs playing. For example, in 1989, 96 teams were in the second division! The table below shows the winners and runner-up teams of the Série C tournaments since 1981. These are the official results from the Brazilian Football Confederation.

Official Champions

Ed.	Season	Champion	Runner-up
1	1981	Olaria	Santo Amaro
–	1982–1987	Not held
2	1988	União São João	Esportivo
–	1989	Not held
3	1990	Atlético Goianiense	América Mineiro
–	1991	Not held
4	1992	Tuna Luso	Fluminense de Feira
–	1993	Not held
5	1994	Novorizontino	Ferroviária
6	1995	XV de Piracicaba	Volta Redonda
7	1996	Vila Nova	Botafogo
8	1997	Sampaio Corrêa	Juventus
9	1998	Avaí	São Caetano
10	1999	Fluminense	São Raimundo
11	2000	Not held See Copa João Havelange Group Green and White
12	2001	Etti Jundiaí	Mogi Mirim
13	2002	Brasiliense	Marília
14	2003	Ituano	Santo André
15	2004	União Barbarense	Gama
16	2005	Remo	América (RN)
17	2006	Criciúma	Vitória
18	2007	Bragantino	Bahia
19	2008	Atlético Goianiense	Guarani
20	2009	América Mineiro	ASA
21	2010	ABC	Ituiutaba
22	2011	Joinville	CRB
23	2012	Oeste	Icasa
24	2013	Santa Cruz	Sampaio Corrêa
25	2014	Macaé	Paysandu
26	2015	Vila Nova	Londrina
27	2016	Boa Esporte	Guarani
28	2017	CSA	Fortaleza
29	2018	Operário Ferroviário	Cuiabá
30	2019	Náutico	Sampaio Corrêa
31	2020	Vila Nova	Remo
32	2021	Ituano	Tombense
33	2022	Mirassol	ABC
34	2023	Amazonas	Brusque

Unofficial Champions

Sometimes, a season isn't officially recognized by the CBF. Here's one example:

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Comments
2000	Malutrom	Uberlândia	This was part of a bigger tournament called the Copa João Havelange.

How Many Titles Each Team Has

This table shows which clubs have won the Série C and how many times:

Rank	Club	Winners	Winning years
1	Vila Nova	3	1996, 2015, 2020
2	Atlético Goianiense	2	1990, 2008
	Ituano		2003, 2021
4	ABC	1	2010
	Amazonas		2023
	América Mineiro		2009
	Avaí		1998
	Boa Esporte		2016
	Brasiliense		2002
	Criciúma		2006
	CSA		2017
	Fluminense		1999
	Joinville		2011
	Macaé		2014
	Mirassol		2022
	Náutico		2019
	Novorizontino		1994
	Oeste		2012
	Olaria		1981
	Operário Ferroviário		2018
	Paulista		2001
	Red Bull Bragantino		2007
	Remo		2005
	Sampaio Corrêa		1997
	Santa Cruz		2013
	Tuna Luso		1992
	União Barbarense		2004
	União São João		1988
	XV de Piracicaba		1995

Titles by State

This table shows how many Série C titles teams from each state have won:

State	Nº of titles
São Paulo	10
Goiás	5
Rio de Janeiro	3
Santa Catarina	3
Minas Gerais	2
Pará	2
Pernambuco	2
Alagoas	1
Amazonas	1
Distrito Federal	1
Maranhão	1
Paraná	1
Rio Grande do Norte	1

Team Appearances in Série C

Some clubs have played in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C many times. Here are the teams with the most appearances:

Teams Moving Up and Down

In football leagues, teams can move up to a higher division (promoted) or move down to a lower division (relegated). This keeps the competition exciting!

Clubs Promoted from Série C

Here are some of the clubs that have been promoted from Série C to a higher league:

Clubs Relegated from Série C

Here are some of the clubs that have been moved down from Série C to a lower league:

Top Scorers

These are the players who scored the most goals in each Série C season:

Winning Coaches

These are the coaches who led their teams to victory in the Série C:

See also

In Spanish: Campeonato Brasileño de Serie C para niños

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the main division of Brazilian football
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of Brazilian football
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, the fourth division of Brazilian football