On 26 November 2024, Cuiabá’s relegation was confirmed with three rounds still to play. Juventude beat Atlético Mineiro 3-2 that night, and the maths left Cuiabá unable to catch the clubs above them. It was the first relegation in the club’s history, and it came after four seasons in the top flight.
That result shrank an already tiny list. This guide covers who is left, which famous clubs lost their streaks, how relegation works in the Brasileirão and which smaller clubs are still waiting for their first drop.
Key Takeaways
- Only Flamengo and São Paulo have played in every top-flight season since the national championship was unified in 1971, as of the end of the 2025 season.
- Santos lost their place on that list in 2023, and Cuiabá were relegated for the first time in 2024.
- Four clubs go down from Série A each year, and four come up from Série B.
- Plenty of giants have dropped at least once, including Corinthians, Palmeiras, Grêmio, Cruzeiro and Vasco da Gama.
How Relegation Works in the Brasileirão
Série A has 20 clubs who play each other home and away, a 38-match season. A win earns three points and a draw one, and the bottom four finish in the relegation zone.
The top four in Série B swap places with them. That four-up, four-down system has been in place since 2006.
The tiebreakers decide a lot of survival fights. After points, the order is wins, goal difference, goals scored, head-to-head results between two teams, fewest red cards, fewest yellow cards and finally a draw of lots. In 2024, Atlético Goianiense and Cuiabá both ended on 30 points, and Atlético-GO’s seven wins to Cuiabá’s six left Cuiabá bottom.
Read More: GD, GF and GA in Football Explained
Below Série A sits a full pyramid. Série B has 20 clubs with the same four-up, four-down rule, Série C has 20, and Série D has 64 and serves as the lowest national tier.
The Two Clubs That Have Never Been Relegated
Brazilian football media usually count from 1971, when the unified national championship began. Since then, only two clubs have played in every edition of the top flight.
1. Flamengo
Flamengo have never left the first division, and the 2025 season showed what that continuity can produce. They won the title with 79 points, 23 wins and only five defeats, finishing ahead of Palmeiras on 76. A club that has never spent a season in Série B has never had to sell its best players to rebuild from the second tier.
2. São Paulo
São Paulo are the other name on the list. In 2024 they were the opponents when Botafogo clinched the title with a 2-1 win on the final day. Their record has no season in Série B at all.
A streak like this can end at any time, so check the current table before quoting it. The Brazilian Série A league profile keeps the club context in one place.
The Clubs That Lost Their Streaks
1. Cuiabá (2024)
Cuiabá were founded in 2001 and reached Série A in 2021, becoming the first Mato Grosso club in the top flight since 1986. They had never dropped a division at any level before 2024, according to Brazilian press reports at the time. Their season ended with 30 points, 6 wins, 12 draws and 20 defeats, good for 20th place.
Until that Tuesday night, Cuiabá had shared a clean top-flight record with Flamengo and São Paulo.
2. Santos (2023)
Santos were relegated for the first time in their 111-year history after finishing 17th in 2023. The final blow was a 2-1 home defeat against Fortaleza on the last matchday.
The reaction was quick. Santos won the 2024 Série B title with 68 points and became the first club promoted, on 11 November 2024, after a 2-0 win at Coritiba. They finished 12th in 2025, with Neymar back in the squad.
Big Clubs That Have Dropped Down
If you think the giants are immune, the history says otherwise. This list comes from a Brazilian summary of relegation records.
| Club | Relegation Years |
|---|---|
| Vasco da Gama | 2008, 2013, 2015, 2020 |
| Botafogo | 2002, 2014, 2020 |
| Palmeiras | 2002, 2012 |
| Grêmio | 2004, 2021 |
| Corinthians | 2007 |
| Atlético Mineiro | 2005 |
| Internacional | 2016 |
| Cruzeiro | 2019 |
| Santos | 2023 |
A drop does not define a club for long. Palmeiras won the 2016 title four years after going down in 2012, and Botafogo won the 2024 championship, their first since 1995, four years after their 2020 relegation.
Recent Relegation Classes
The two most recent drops show how different the margins can be.
| Season | Relegated Clubs (Points) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Athletico Paranaense (42), Criciúma (38), Atlético Goianiense (30), Cuiabá (30) |
| 2025 | Ceará (43), Fortaleza (43), Juventude (35), Sport (17) |
Athletico-PR went down in 2024 with 42 points, which is the sort of tally that usually keeps a club up. Fortaleza went down in 2025, a year after their league finish had earned them a Copa Libertadores place.
Lower-Division Clubs With Clean Records
Never-relegated lists exist at every level, and promotion can end a clean record just as easily as it extends it.
Mirassol finished second in the 2024 Série B with 67 points, behind Santos, and went up to Série A for the first time in their history. They finished 4th in 2025 with 67 points, and they secured a Copa Libertadores group-stage place on 2 December 2025 with a 2-0 win at Vasco da Gama. That makes Mirassol one of the best debut seasons the Brasileirão has seen.
In Série C, Athletic reached the 2024 final in their first season at that level, losing to Volta Redonda, and still earned promotion to Série B for 2025. Aparecidense, Ferroviário, Sampaio Corrêa and São José went down to Série D.
Read More: A Guide to Brazil’s Série B
Following the Drop Zone
Relegation battles produce the most unpredictable football of the season, because every club in the bottom half is playing for something. If you want a view of each fixture before kick-off, the Brazilian Série A AI predictions page covers the league round by round. For other competitions, the AI football predictions hub lists every league we cover.
Why the Streaks Eventually End
Cuiabá and Santos prove the point: a clean record is only a record until a bad season arrives. Flamengo and São Paulo now carry the only unbroken records among the top-flight clubs, so every poor run for either gets read through that lens.
If you follow Brazilian football, keep an eye on the clubs sitting just above the bottom four as the season enters its last ten rounds. A streak, or a survival story, gets decided there.