São Paulo face back-to-back derbies in 2026 Paulistão: fixtures and TV info | OneFootball

While São Paulo was conceding goals non-stop in the humiliation against Fluminense in the Brasileirão, the São Paulo Football Federation (FPF) released the basic schedule for the 1st phase of the Paulistão 2026 late Thursday night (27).

Thus, the Tricolor learned its sequence of matches and the base dates of the eight rounds of the initial phase of the state championship, which starts on January 11 and ends on February 15, then moving on to the start of the knockout stage.

São Paulo debuts away from home against this year's sensation, Mirassol, and will have almost all three major classics in sequence, interrupted only by the duel with Portuguesa.

In the 3rd round, the Tricolor visits Corinthians, then hosts Lusa, and subsequently has classics against Palmeiras away and Santos as the host.

After a long technical council among the club directors, the new Paulistão model, inspired by the UEFA Champions League, was confirmed. The initial phase will have eight rounds in a round-robin system, but not all clubs, divided into four pots, will face each other.

This ensures that all the classics between Corinthians, Palmeiras, São Paulo, and Santos occur mandatorily in the 1st phase, as they all comprised pot A.

São Paulo, one of the seeded teams, was placed in position A3 and learned about all its rivals. Besides the three state classics, it will face Portuguesa, Ponte Preta, Mirassol, Primavera, Guarani, and São Bernardo in pursuit of qualifying for the quarter-finals, in a single match, with ties decided by penalties. The semifinals will also be a single match, and the grand final is scheduled for the 8th. The last two teams at the end of the first phase are relegated to Paulistão A2 2027.

Check below the dates and matches of the Tricolor:

Where will it be broadcast?

Paulistão 2026 will have Record TV, TNT Sports (TNT and HBO Max), and the YouTube channel CazéTV as the holders of the live game broadcasts, expanding the reach and diversification of the audience among open TV, cable, streaming, and digital platforms.

Record and YouTube, on CazéTV, will broadcast 19 matches of the competition (Final, 2 semifinal games, 2 quarter-final games, 14 first-phase games, including 4 classics).

TNT Sports will start broadcasting all Paulistão games from 2026. All tournament matches will be streamed on HBO Max, while selected duels will be aired on the TNT channel (Cable TV).

How does the new Paulistão work?

The initial draw defined the matchups for each team in the 1st phase of Paulistão, similar to the current Champions League. At the end of the eight rounds, the top eight teams qualify for the quarter-finals, in a single match, as well as the semifinals, with the home advantage for the team with the best campaign. The grand state final was expected to be played over two matches, but the FPF couldn't secure a new date with the CBF. Thus, the decision will also be a single match.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.