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	Volta Redonda (1st title) (2024)
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, often called Série C, is a big football league in Brazil. It's the third most important league in the Brazilian football league system. Think of it as the third level of professional football in Brazil.

Unlike the top two leagues, Série C doesn't have teams playing each other twice (home and away) in the first part of the season. This is because many teams don't have enough money to travel very long distances. So, the tournament is set up with groups of teams from the same region. This way, teams from far-off states don't have to play each other in the early rounds.

Since 2009, the Série C has 20 teams. Before that, it had 64 teams! The Campeonato Brasileiro Série D is now the league that helps teams get into Série C. In the way it works now, the first part of the season has 19 matches. The best eight teams move on to a knockout stage. The four teams that make it to the semi-finals get to move up to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. The four teams that finish last in Série C move down to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D.

How the League Has Changed

Before 2008, any professional team could join Série C, but only 64 teams were picked. Teams that had moved down from Série B the year before would join. Other teams qualified through their state tournaments. Each state had its own rules for how teams could qualify.

From 2009, the qualifying rounds were played in four groups of five teams. In 2011, the final round had two groups of four teams. Starting in 2012, the first part of the competition had two groups of ten teams. This meant more games were played. This setup stayed until 2020. Then, the league decided to change the second phase. They brought back the two groups of four to decide which teams would move up and play in the final. In 2022, the first phase changed again. Teams played 19 matches in a single round instead of 18. The top eight teams went to the second phase, which was the same as before. The four teams with the lowest scores moved down to the lower league.

2024 Série C Teams

Here are the teams that played in the Série C in 2024:

Who Won the Série C?

Official Champions

The Campeonato Brasileiro has been around since 1971. But, there were many years when the third division tournament wasn't held. This often happened because the top two divisions had too many clubs. For example, in 1989, 96 teams played 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 winners, according to the Brazilian Football Confederation.

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
35	2024	Volta Redonda	Athletic

Unofficial Champions

The season listed below was part of a different competition called the Copa João Havelange. This competition was organized by a group of clubs, not by the official Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). So, the winner of this season is not officially recognized as a Série C champion by the CBF.

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Comments
2000	Malutrom	Uberlândia	It was the Green and White modules of the Copa João Havelange.

Teams with the Most Wins

This table shows which clubs have won the Série C the most 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
	Volta Redonda		2024
	XV de Piracicaba		1995

Wins by State

This table shows how many times clubs from each Brazilian state have won the Série C.

State	Nº of titles
São Paulo	10
Goiás	5
Rio de Janeiro	4
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

Most Appearances in Série C

Here is a list of the clubs that have played in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C the most times.

Teams That Moved Up from Série C

This table shows the teams that were promoted from Série C to a higher league each year.

Teams That Moved Down from Série C

This table shows the teams that were relegated from Série C to a lower league each year.

Top Goal Scorers

This table lists the players who scored the most goals in each Série C season.

Winning Coaches

This table lists 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