How the Brasileirão season ends: the Libertadores and Sudamericana places and the four relegated

The 2026 Brasileirão sends its top five to the 2027 Copa Libertadores, the top four straight into the group stage and fifth into the preliminary stage, the next six clubs to the Copa Sudamericana, and its bottom four to Série B. That is the plan on paper, set out in Articles 6 to 8 of the CBF's regulations for the 2026 Série A. In practice the Libertadores line often moves further down, because the Copa do Brasil hands out two places of its own and the winners of the two continental cups get theirs, and a club that qualifies twice passes a place on to the next club in the table. With eight rounds left and Brazilian clubs in the semi-finals of all three cups, this year the line could move a long way.

How many Libertadores places does the Brasileirão give?

Five, under Article 6 of the CBF's rules: first, second, third and fourth go into the group stage of the 2027 Libertadores, and fifth goes into its preliminary stage. Two more Brazilian places come from the Copa do Brasil. Article 4 of the cup's own regulations, repeated in the Série A rules, puts the 2026 cup winner in the group stage and the runner-up in the preliminary stage. A club knocked out in the cup's semi-finals gets nothing from it.

That makes seven, which is Brazil's share. CONMEBOL's club manual for the 2026 Libertadores gives the CBF seven places, more than any other country; Argentina has six and the other eight countries four each. On top of the national places, the holders of the Libertadores and of the Sudamericana take part: this year that meant Flamengo, the 2025 Libertadores winners, and Lanús, who won the 2025 Sudamericana.

What is the Libertadores preliminary stage?

Three two-legged rounds before the group stage. In the 2026 edition, Brazil's two preliminary places entered at the second of them, Fase 2, which had sixteen clubs; the eight winners went into Fase 3, and its four winners joined the 28 clubs already in the 32-team group stage. The manual sends the four clubs beaten in Fase 3 to the group stage of that year's Sudamericana, so in 2026 a Brazilian club that lost in Fase 3 still played continental football; one beaten in Fase 2 did not.

So fifth place, and the Copa do Brasil runner-up's place, was, in 2026, a ticket to two qualifying rounds, not to the group stage. CONMEBOL's rules for 2027 may differ in detail; this is how the 2026 edition worked.

What happens when a club qualifies twice?

The place it does not need goes back to the Brasileirão table, to the best-placed club not yet qualified. The regulations cover each case:

• A continental winner. A club that wins the 2026 Libertadores or Sudamericana and also qualifies through the Brasileirão or the Copa do Brasil takes the CONMEBOL place, and its national place passes down the table; if that place is the Copa do Brasil winner's, it goes to the cup runner-up instead, and the runner-up's preliminary place passes down the table (Article 6, §§ 2 and 5; cup rules, Article 4, § 1).
• The cup winner also in the top five. The cup winner keeps whichever place gets it into the group stage, so a cup winner that finished fifth uses the cup place and fifth place passes down. If both places are group-stage places, it takes the Brasileirão one; then the cup runner-up moves up to the cup's group-stage place, and its preliminary place passes to the table, unless the runner-up already has a group-stage place, in which case both cup places pass to the table (Article 6, §§ 3 to 5; cup rules, Article 4, §§ 1, 2 and 8).
• The cup runner-up already qualified. If the runner-up has a group-stage place through another competition, its preliminary place passes to the table; if it finished fifth, it uses the cup place and fifth place passes down instead (cup rules, Article 4, §§ 3 and 4).
• A relegated cup finalist. Only clubs in the 2027 Série A may play in the 2027 Libertadores (cup rules, Article 4, § 6). A relegated cup winner loses its group-stage place to the runner-up, whose preliminary place passes to the table, and a relegated runner-up's preliminary place goes to the table (§§ 7 and 9).

In each case the place goes to the club with the best Brasileirão position among those not yet qualified.

How far down the table can the line go?

Every Brazilian club in the 2027 Libertadores that did not get there through a cup comes from the Brasileirão table. There are seven Brazilian places, plus up to two more if Brazilian clubs win the Libertadores and the Sudamericana. If all four cup qualifiers, the two Copa do Brasil finalists and the two continental winners, are different clubs and also finish in the top five, the table fills all nine places, and ninth is enough for the preliminary stage. If none of them finishes in the top five and no club qualifies through two cups, the line stays at fifth.

Who goes to the Sudamericana?

Article 7: the six best-placed clubs in the Brasileirão that have not qualified for the 2027 Libertadores. The line for the Sudamericana therefore moves down with the Libertadores line: if the Libertadores reaches ninth, the Sudamericana takes tenth to fifteenth. In the 2026 edition Brazil's six went straight into the group stage, alongside Argentina's six; the other eight countries' clubs first played national ties in a preliminary round.

Who goes down?

The bottom four, under Article 8: 17th to 20th go to Série B for 2027, with no play-off. Level clubs are separated by wins before goal difference (Article 15), so a club can finish below another despite having a better goal difference. How the clubs coming up from Série B are decided is set out in our explainer on promotion and relegation.

To keep the last day fair, Article 34 requires the matches of the final round to kick off at the same time, except those with nothing at stake: no title, no relegation and no Libertadores or Sudamericana place.

When will it all be settled?

Not all at once. The Copa do Brasil semi-finals, Palmeiras v Vasco da Gama and Grêmio v Atlético-MG, are played on 1 November and 7 and 8 November. The Sudamericana final is in Barranquilla on 21 November and the Libertadores final in Montevideo on 28 November, CONMEBOL says. The Brasileirão's 37th round starts on 29 November and the 38th is on 2 December. The Copa do Brasil final, a single match this year, is set for 6 December, CNN Brasil reports, after the league has finished.

That order matters less than it seems. Both Copa do Brasil finalists qualify whichever of them wins, unless one is relegated, and the result of the final does not change how many places pass to the table; it only decides which of the two goes to the group stage.

In numbers

After 30 rounds, three of the Libertadores semi-finalists are Brazilian and all three are in the top four: Flamengo, Palmeiras and Fluminense, who play Palmeiras in the first leg this week. Atlético-MG are seventh and in the semi-finals of both the Sudamericana and the Copa do Brasil; Vasco da Gama are 14th and in the same two semi-finals. Grêmio are 18th, in the relegation zone, and two matches from the Copa do Brasil final.

Pos	Club	Pts	Still in
1	Flamengo	64	Libertadores semi-final
2	Palmeiras	63	Libertadores and Copa do Brasil semi-finals
3	Atlético Paranaense	53	—
4	Fluminense	51	Libertadores semi-final
5	Bahia	49	—
6	Cruzeiro	48	—
7	Atlético-MG	47	Sudamericana and Copa do Brasil semi-finals
8	Santos	42	—
14	Vasco da Gama	35	Sudamericana and Copa do Brasil semi-finals
18	Grêmio	31	Copa do Brasil semi-final

If Palmeiras reach the Copa do Brasil final and stay in the top five, one more place passes down the table; if Flamengo, Palmeiras or Fluminense win the Libertadores from the top five, so does another. At the bottom, Chapecoense have 18 points and Remo 25; Grêmio have 31, and Internacional and Corinthians 32. Vasco da Gama and Chapecoense each have a match in hand, their postponed meeting from round 21.

The table, the results and the remaining fixtures are on the Brasileirão page.

Sources: CBF Regulamento Específico, Brasileirão Série A 2026, CBF Regulamento Específico, Copa do Brasil 2026, CONMEBOL Libertadores 2026 club manual, CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2026 club manual, CONMEBOL on the 2026 Libertadores final, CONMEBOL on the 2026 Sudamericana final, CNN Brasil on the Copa do Brasil final.