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The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) released the changes in the calendar of competitions to 2026, bringing important adjustments in the state championships, at the beginning of the Brasileirão and the Brazilian Cup, considering the break for the FIFA World Cup in the middle of the year.
The start of the 2026 Brazilian Championship will be new to the calendar, starting on January 28 and ended on December 2. In addition, state -criticized state will have a maximum limit of 11 dates, starting on January 11 and ending on March 8. Each federation will individually define the format of its competition and the distribution of vacancies to the Brazilian Cup.
Samir Xaud, president of CBF/Photo: Reproduction
According to Júlio Avellar, when explaining the organization of the matches, “there are four rounds of Brazilian who are interspersed with state. There are nine weekends dedicated to state and two weekends, ie Serial Games will be held in weekends.” The measure aims to reduce departure overload and create space in the calendar for national and regional tournaments.
The calendar also foresees breaks in the middle of the year to hold the FIFA World Cup, ensuring that the main national championships do not coincide with the international tournament.
News in the regional tournaments
The CBF also announced changes in regional tournaments and the creation of a new championship, all held between March 25 and June 7.
The Green Cup will be divided into North and Midwest conferences, with an increase from 30 to 70 matches, giving more opportunities to Acre teams. The novelty of the Northeast Cup occurs with the number of clubs, from 16 to 20.
Paysandu, Green Cup champion 2025/Photo: Reproduction
The entity innovated in the creation of a new tournament called the Copa Sul-Southeast, with 12 clubs.
Aiming at a democratization of competitions, as well as drying the calendar, teams that are in Conmebol competitions will not participate in regional tournaments. Bahia, for example, champion of the Northeast Cup 2025, would not have participated this year, if the changes had already been adopted.
Bahia, Northeast Cup Champion 2025/Photo: Reproduction
C and D series with expansion
Serie C and D will start on April 5 and end on September 13.
The fourth division has an increase from 64 to 96 clubs, totaling 100 more matches compared to the previous 2025 edition. In addition to securing 6 clubs, the four semifinalists, while those eliminated in the quarterfinals will play playoffs for the remaining two vacancies.
Independence, one of the Acre teams in the D/Photo series: Reproduction
The series has news for the long run. The competition will feature only two relegations in the first edition of the new format with the objective of expanding to 24 clubs in 2027 and 28 in 2028, with two groups of 14 and six relegations for Series D from 2028.
Revolution in the Brazilian Cup
The Brazil Cup will undergo complete reformulation, bringing together 126 teams. In the last editions, 12 clubs classified for Libertadores, the champions of the Northeast Cup, Green Cup, Series B of the Brazilian Championship only entered the third phase of the competition.
Copa do Brasil Cup/Photo: Reproduction
In the new model, the 20 clubs in the series will only enter the fifth phase, while the early five phases will be distributed based on state and national rankings, including C -Series Champions, Green Copa and Northeast Cup.
The big news will be the final, played in a single match, scheduled for December 6, 2026.
Flamengo, Champion of the Brazilian Cup 2024/Photo: Reproduction
The changes aim to organize the season better, reduce game overload and balance space for national, regional and international competitions, ensuring higher technical and sports quality to Brazilian clubs and athletes.
