Brazil - Brasileirão

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The Brazilian Serie A Championship, popularly referred to as Brasileirao, is the top-tier football category in Brazil. Twenty teams play against each other year after year to be crowned as champions.

Just like most leagues in the world, this competition works under a promotion-relegation system. Each year, four teams with the lowest amount of points are relegated to Serie B, with four teams from the latter earning their promotion. The team with the most points after 38 games gets to lift the trophy.

The Brasileirao’s current format was established in 2003. Previously, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) forced the teams to play a regular season and a playoff stage, which made the tournament too long. The last adjustment to this format came in 2006, when the CBF brought down the number of teams from 22 to 20.

Added to the trophy, this tournament hands out several spots to play in CONMEBOL-sanctioned competitions. The four top teams get spots to play the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, while the 5th and 6th-placed teams enter the preliminary rounds of that same competition. The champion also gets to play in the Copa Sudamericana, joined by those teams that finish the Brasileirao in 7th to 10th place.

There are twelve teams labeled as the greatest in Brazilian football. That list of teams includes Corinthians, Sao Paulo, Santos, Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, Vasco da Gama, Cruzeiro, Atlético Mineiro, Gremio and Internacional. All of them have collected at least one international trophy.