Since Brazil is home to some of the best football in the world it’s a bit surpising that there isn’t more interest from punters. That being said I’ve managed to find one place where you can bet on Brazilian football online.
Also on this page I’ve got a beginners type guide to Brazilian football including how the league system works, the best teams in the league and where you can find the best current league information.
Brazilian League Betting Sites
Brazilian Serie A Odds
Brazil Serie A
How Does the Brazilian League Work?
The Brazilian League – otherwise referred to as the Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Serie A, or Brasileirao for short – is the highest league in Brazilian football and has produced some of the greatest players to ever grace a football pitch.
There are 20 teams in the league and they each play each other a total of twice, therefore meaning that each team plays 38 games in total in a season. The games are rarely boring though, as the flair and skill that has come to symbolize Brazilian football is still very much evident in most matches. The league is a simple one and there are no splits half way through the season or other confusing occurrences.
Promotion, Relegation & Continental Competitions
Although the major goal is to finish at the top of the table and become champions, most Brazilian teams also value qualifying for the continental competitions very highly. The highest level of competition in South America is known as the Copa Libertadores, and the second tier competition is the Copa Sudamericana. Brazil gets to have four teams in the first of these, with all of the places going to the teams finishing in 1st to 4th position in the table. The next eight teams in the league are given entry to the Copa Sudamericana – 2 more than the next best represented nation, Argentina, and five more than every other country on the continent.
When it comes to the relegation of teams from the league, there are no plays-offs or other matches at the end of the season. The simple formula is that the bottom four teams are relegated to the Serie B, and they are replaced by the best four teams from that lower league. There are certain teams usually not in danger of relegation at any point in the season and it is usually the teams that have just come up who are favourites to be relegated again.
Who are the Top Teams in the Brazilian League?
As you might expect, there are a number of different teams from Brazil’s two main cities – Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo – in the league, and they are generally the strongest teams. The current champions are Fluminese, a club from Rio, but other strong teams include the likes of Flamengo, Sao Paulo, Corinthians and Vasco da Gama.
In the history of the league though it is two teams who are considered to be relatively weak at the moment who hold the record together, and these are Santos and Palmeiras. The Brazilian League is notoriously fickle though, with clubs performing well one season then fading away the next, mainly because the best players are quickly snapped up by the bigger European teams. This can make it difficult to bet on Brazilian football at the start of the season as even the bookies don’t really know how each team will perform.
Brazilian Football Resources
Despite the league being played thousands of miles away from Britain, you can still bet on the league, most Brazilian League games can be found with odds on Bet365 who also offer in-play bets on the matches as well – they are currently the only bookmaker for Brazilian football available online I can find.
For information on upcoming fixtures and league standings, the most reliable resource is the FIFA website, although there are also various Brazilian websites on the league that can be translated into English using Google’s translation tool. For a more irreverent look at the goings on in Brazilian football – and South American football as a whole – there is a blog on the BBC about the subject.
Unfortunately there aren’t any great Brazilian football sites out there for info. If you know of one don’t hesitate to get in touch and let me know about it (use the about link in top menu).
Author: David Lenton
