Brasileirão

The 2026 season

This is the 70th Série A. It opened on 28 January and closes on 2 December, and it lost the whole of June to the World Cup, which is why the second half of the calendar is packed tighter than usual. Clubs came back from that break into a run of midweek rounds that will decide most of the season.

Flamengo are the champions, having taken the 2025 title. Four clubs came up from Série B for this season: Coritiba won the division, with Athletico Paranaense, Chapecoense and Remo behind them. Four go back down in December, and promoted sides have a poor record of surviving the first year.

One thing this table has over the European ones in August: it means something. Brazil is past the halfway point of its season while England and Spain are three rounds in.

The clubs to know

Palmeiras, Flamengo, Corinthians, São Paulo, Santos, Grêmio and Internacional make up the group that expects to compete, and between them they carry most of the league's history and almost all of its support. Flamengo claim the largest fanbase in Brazil and one of the largest in world football.

The derbies are city affairs and they are loud: Palmeiras against Corinthians and São Paulo in São Paulo, Flamengo against Fluminense and Vasco in Rio, Grêmio against Internacional in Porto Alegre. A Brazilian derby is a different event from a European one and the television coverage does not fully convey it.

The league that is on when Europe is off

Eight of the nine leagues covered here shut down between mid-May and mid-August. Brazil keeps playing. Its season runs across the calendar year, opening in late January and closing in early December, so the weeks when English and Spanish football offer you pre-season friendlies and transfer rumours are the weeks when the Brasileirão title race is at its sharpest.

That is the practical argument for this league, and it holds in the other direction too. By the time Europe reaches its winter break, Brazil is finishing, with four clubs fighting relegation and a title decided in November. If you want competitive football in July and again in December, this is where it is.

The season inside the season

Brazilian clubs start the year in their state championships, which run through January, February and into March. Sao Paulo clubs play the Paulista, Rio clubs the Carioca, and so on across the country. These are real competitions with their own history, and they overlap the opening weeks of Série A.

Add the Copa do Brasil and, for the better clubs, the Copa Libertadores, and a Brazilian squad can play four competitions at once. Coaches rotate heavily because they have no choice. It is the single biggest thing to understand before reading anything into a Brazilian result: the eleven you watch depends on what the club played on Wednesday and what it plays on Sunday.

Following the season week to week

Rounds fall midweek and at weekends and kick off late in the evening local time. From western Europe that puts most matches between ten at night and one in the morning. From North America it is ordinary evening viewing, which is why the rights there sell as a full package.

The table updates as results are confirmed and the round preview covers each matchday. Globo and Premiere carry the season in Brazil, TV Globo Internacional and Fanatiz cover the United States, and Creator Sports Network puts one match a week out in English, which the viewing guide sets out in full.

Brasileirão: common questions

When does the Brazilian Série A season run?

On the calendar year. The 2026 season opened on 28 January and closes on 2 December, with a month off in June for the World Cup. That is why the season carries a single year, and why Brazil is the league still playing through the European summer.

How many clubs are relegated from the Brasileirão?

Four, from a division of twenty. That is one more than the European leagues relegate and it keeps a fifth of the division in a survival fight into November.

How many matches are in a Brasileirão season?

380, with 38 for each of the twenty clubs, played alongside state championships, domestic cups and continental competition.

Where can I watch Brasileirão matches?

In Brazil, Globo shows a selection of each round and Premiere carries at least nine of the ten matches. In the United States, TV Globo Internacional and Fanatiz both cover the season, and Creator Sports Network puts out one match a week in English and Spanish. European rights have moved between broadcasters and we have not confirmed the current holders, so that row stays out of our table.

What time do Brazilian matches kick off for European viewers?

Late. Most fall between 22:00 and 01:00 in western Europe, which is the main practical reason the league has a smaller European following than the standard of play deserves. From North America the timing is ordinary evening viewing.

What should you know before betting on the Brasileirão?

The fixture calendar, above everything. Clubs play state championships, cups and continental competition alongside the league and the load falls unevenly, so a side deep in the Copa Libertadores will field a rotated team and the price will not always reflect it. Home advantage also runs stronger here, partly because a club can fly four hours between rounds.

Not sure where a match is on? The viewing guide lists the confirmed rights holders by country.