🏆 Big derbies and Champions League-style format for Paulistão 2026 | OneFootball

On Tuesday (11), the São Paulo Football Federation (FPF) held the draw for the 2026 Paulistão.

President Reinaldo Carneiro de Bastos took the stage to talk about the new competition format approved by the Club Technical Council, just minutes before the draw.

The 2026 Paulistão is inspired by the new Champions League, featuring a "league phase" with eight rounds.

The top eight teams in the round-robin phase advance to the knockout stage. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played as single matches, with home advantage for the team with the better record.

Only the final will keep the traditional two-legged format.

The tournament is set to begin on January 11, with the final scheduled for March 8.

Unlike previous group stages, the tournament’s base was determined by pots.

Among the four pots in the draw, the first was made up of the state's four biggest clubs: Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos, and São Paulo.

The classic matchups are guaranteed, since teams from the same pot face each other, with the draw defining the other opponents for each team.

Dates and times of the matches, as well as the order of the games and home advantage, will be determined later.

🗳️ Pot Draw

A1 - Santos

A2 - Palmeiras

A3 - São Paulo

A4 - Corinthians

B1 - RB Bragantino

B2 - Novorizontino

B3 - Mirassol

B4 - São Bernardo

C1 - Velo Clube

C2 - Guarani

C3 - Portuguesa

C4 - Ponte Preta

D1 - Noroeste

D2 - Botafogo-SP

D3 - Primavera

D4 - Capivariano

⚔️ Defined Matchups

Featured photo: Jhony Inácio/Ag.Paulistão/Flickr FPF_Oficial

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