The best soccer teams from Santa Catarina and their main achievements in major competitions

To get to football competitions like Brazilian Championship (Brasileirão, Serie A), Copa do Brasil e America's Libertadores Not an easy task. Among the competitions, currently, Santa Catarina is entitled to three spots in the Copa do Brasil. In addition to the winner of the Santa Catarina Cup, the champion of the Santa Catarina Championship and the runner-up also compete in the tournament.

The only team from Santa Catarina that won the Copa do Brasil was Cricklewood in 1991. The closest a team from Florianópolis got to an achievement was the Figueirense, runner-up in 2007. The Avaí has participated 16 times, reaching the semifinals in 2011.

The Copa do Brasil has three criteria registered in regulation by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). As described in the official document, 92 teams are classified, with 70 spots allocated to clubs classified in state competitions. However, the clubs identified in the vacancies destined to the Libertadores teams and also the champions for the country in the previous season are excluded.

In addition, 12 extra spots are intended for clubs that are classified for Libertadores and also the champions of the Copa do Nordeste, Copa Verde, Brasileirão Série A and Campeonato Brasileiro da Série B.

But other last 10 spots are available for clubs that did not fit into the above categories, which takes into account the performance of clubs in state championships. In this case, in Santa Catarina, the performance in the Campeonato Catarinense.

Follow leaderboards and news of the main teams from Santa Catarina in Brazilian and South American football through the portal AssisNews.

Brazilian Championship

The classic competition is divided into four divisions with the best teams in the country. Serie A, Serie B, Serie C and Serie D, with Serie A being the most valuable. It takes place right after the state competitions with 38 rounds.

Figueirense was the first club from Santa Catarina in the Brazilian Championship, in 1973. In Serie C, it was runner-up in 1996. In Serie B, it was Brazilian runner-up in 2001 and 2010.

Criciúma, on the other hand, has a Campeonato Brasileiro Série B in 2002 and a Campeonato Brasileiro Série C title in 2006.

Avaí won the C Series in 1998 and was runner-up in the B Series in 2016. 

Other teams from Santa Catarina also competed in the competition, such as Brusque, a Chapecoense and the Joinville. Joinville was the Brazilian champion of Série B in 2014 and of Série C in 2011, and Chapecoense won the Série B in 2020.

But how does competition work? Through the running stitches. Then, 20 teams play the round-trip game against each other, and the champion is the one with the highest number of points, among the 38 rounds.

Series C and D takes place in a mix between qualifying stages in groups and also in knockout stages. In this way, the relegated, classified and champions are recognized.

The team is classified in Series D from its classification in the state championship (in this case, the Santa Catarina State Championship), which gives a chance to smaller teams.

Copa Libertadores de América

The most coveted competition in South America, Libertadores da América guarantees a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup. The champion also disputes the South American Recopa. The current champion participates in the competition, in addition to the Copa Sudamericana champion and the national champion of the participating countries.

Therefore, in Brazil, the team that wins the Copa do Brasil is classified, in addition to the first six places in the Brasileirão of Serie A. Brazil can have up to nine representatives in Libertadores.

In 1998, the Pre-Libertadores stage was created, where four teams face each other in home and away games, and the two best then qualify for the group stage. Since 2016, the tournament has three knockout stages and qualifying stages for group stages.

As Criciúma won the Copa do Brasil in 1991, being the only team from Santa Catarina with this achievement, it qualified for the Libertadores in 1992. Chapecoense won a spot for the competition in 2018, after being in 8th place in the Brasileirão de 2017 and after winning the Copa Sudamericana. 

Catarinense Championship and other competitions

As mentioned, the state championship is extremely important for the club to qualify in national competitions. Since the 70s, the Campeonato Catarinense has been dominated by Avaí, Figueirense, Chapecoense, Criciúma and Joinville.

O Cricklewood won in 1968 as a Trader, and in 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2005 and 2013. 

Avaí won in 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1973, 1975, 1988, 1997, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2019 and 2021.

Figueirense won in 1932, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1972, 1974, 1994, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2015 and 2018.

Chapecoense took it in 1977, 1996, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2017 and 2020.

Joinville won in 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 2000 and 2001.

After 30 years, in 2022, Brusque won the Santa Catarina Championship for the second time, emerging as a new force in the competition.

When it comes to international titles, the Copa Sudamericana was won by Chapecoense in 2016. The final against Atlético Nacional was supposed to take place on November 30, 2016, but after the tragic accident involving the Chapecoense plane, the match was cancelled.

In an act of solidarity, Chapecoense was declared champion after Atlético Nacional requested the delivery of the cup to the team. It was the first team from Santa Catarina to win a continental competition.

As a result of the victory, Chapecoense competed in the Libertadores, the Recopa Sudamericana and the Copa Suruga Bank.