Marcello Oliveira

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Brasileirão 2023, the most titles on the pitch

Since the points era began in 2003, the Série A had never started with this much tradition.

By Published 3 min read1 interactive figure

Add up the national titles of every club in a Série A season and you get a rough measure of how heavy the shirts are. The 2023 Brasileirão started with 65 of them, the most since the points era began in 2003. The year before it was 52. The previous high was 60.

Fig. 1 — National titles on the pitch per season2003–2023 · tap a year

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Static version: 65 titles in 2023, against 52 in 2022; the previous record was 60, in 2019.

Comparing seasons needs a footnote, though. In 2003 and 2004 the league had 24 teams, in 2005 it had 22, and only from 2006 did it settle at 20. More teams on the pitch, more possible titles. Two champions were missing from the count, too: Sport (1987) and Guarani (1978) were playing in Série B.

At the other end, five clubs could lift the trophy for the first time: América-MG, Bragantino, Cuiabá, Fortaleza and Goiás.

Do heavier shirts make a tighter race? Not necessarily. One of the seasons near the top of this chart ended with a standard deviation of 16.26 points in the final table, well off the usual balance. Tradition fills the pitch. It does not decide the table.