Serie C (Brazil)

Serie C (Brazil) (Campeonato Brasileiro Série C) - Brazil’s third-tier professional national club division organized by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). Regulations: 20 clubs compete, in the first stage they play a single round-robin over 19 matchdays with 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss, the top 8 advance to the second stage and the bottom 2 are relegated to the Brazilian Serie D (Campeonato Brasileiro Série D). In the second stage, the 8 qualified clubs are split into two groups of four and play a double round-robin within the group over 6 matchdays, the top 2 in each group are promoted to the Brazilian Serie B (Campeonato Brasileiro Série B), and the group winners qualify for the final. Tie-breaks: in the first stage, if teams are level on points the sequence is wins, goal difference, goals scored, fewer red cards, fewer yellow cards and then a draw, in the second stage head-to-head is added for a two-team tie and is calculated over the two matches, while head-to-head is not applied in multi-team ties. The final is played over two legs, if the tie remains level after both matches goal difference applies and then a penalty shootout is held. The champion earns direct entry to the third round of the Copa do Brasil in the following season.