Campeonato Brasileiro Série C facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Campeonato Brasileiro Série C

Founded	1981; 43 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 the third tier of the Brazilian football league system.

Unlike the first and second divisions, the Série C is not played in a double round robin system, arguably because many participating teams lack the financial conditions to travel long distances. Thus, the tournament is organized in regional groups and the table prevents teams from distant states from playing each other in the initial rounds.

Beginning in 2009, the Série C was reduced from 64 teams to 20 and the new Campeonato Brasileiro Série D is the qualifier for Brazilian league football. In its current format the first phase was then played in a single round, with 19 matches. The top eight teams qualify for a knock out stage and the four semi-finalists are promoted to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. The four lowest-placed teams are relegated to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D.

Format history

Until 2008, any professional team could apply, but only 64 teams would take part in the tournament. The teams that had been relegated from the Série B in the previous year were joined by teams qualified for each federation state. Qualification rules varied, some federations used the state tournaments as qualification tournaments, others organized exclusive qualification tournaments to the Série C.

From 2009 onwards, the qualifiers were played in four groups of five teams each. In 2011, the final round was played in two groups of four.  From 2012, the competition was played in two groups of ten teams in the first phase, increasing the number of dates. This format was maintained until 2020, when the competition's Technical Council decided to make a change in the second phase, reintroducing two groups of four to determine the promoted teams and finalists, as in 2011. In 2022, in turn, the first phase was then played in a single round, with 19 matches instead of 18. The eight best teams qualify for the second phase, which is played in the same format as before, while the four lowest-placed teams are relegated.

2024 Série C teams

Champions

Official champions

The Campeonato Brasileiro has existed since 1971. However, there have been many years when no third division tournament took place. In most cases it was because the two elite divisions had too many clubs (in 1989, for instance, 96 teams contested the second division). The following table shows the winners and runners-up of the Série C tournaments played from 1981, 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

Unofficial champions

The following season is not officially recognized by the CBF:

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

Titles by team

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

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

Participations

Most appearances

Below is the list of clubs that have more appearances in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C.

Clubs promoted from Série C

Clubs relegated from Série C

Topscorers

Winning managers

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