The Technical Council of Series B of the Brazilian Championship approved an important change in the format of the dispute for this year’s edition. Now, two of the four places that give access to the national elite will be defined after the playoffs.
There will be two knockouts, involving the teams that come from third to sixth place after the 38 rounds. In the new format, the third-placed team will face the sixth-placed team, and the fourth-placed team will face the fifth-placed team. The winners of each duel, in round-trip games, will gain access.
It was also decided after the meeting of the clubs competing in the event that Series B will not stop during the World Cup, from June 11th to July 19th this year.
The last time the second national division had a knockout match was in 2002, when the format called for a quarter-final match between the top eight. In the end, only the two finalists guaranteed a place in the first division. On that occasion, Fortaleza and Criciúma rose.
The model adopted for this year’s edition of Series B is similar to what occurs in lower divisions of some of Europe’s main leagues. There, there is also some type of knockout stage in England, France, Italy, Spain and Germany.
Series B of the 2026 Brazilian Championship will be played from March 21st to November 28th.
