1985 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

Internacional (January 27, 1985)

Goiás 0-4 Corinthians (March 6, 1985)

Corumbaense 1-5 Ponte Preta (April 17, 1985)

Highest scoring	Paysandu 5-4 Sampaio Corrêa (April 10, 1985)
← 1984 1986 →

The 1985 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 29th edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Coritiba won the championship for the first time, beating Bangu in the finals; both qualified for the 1986 Copa Libertadores.

This season bears the bizarre distinction of being one of the few seasons in recorded top-level professional worldwide football history in which a team won the national championship outright while scoring fewer goals than it allowed. Coritiba managed to win the title despite finishing with a negative overall goal differential. Another example is the 1986 K League, another split phase competition where the team that won a phase performed badly in another, before winning a finals knock out competition to win the championship.

Uberlândia finished with a goal differential of zero, but ended in 37th place.

Format

There was a first phase (which consisted of two rounds), a second phase, a semifinal, and a final. During the first two phases, a win counted as two points while a draw counted as one, as was common at the time.

First phase, Groups A and B

20 clubs, selected from past championship records, divided into two groups of 10, with each club playing only the clubs of the other group. There were two rounds played. The winner of each group in each round would qualify (four teams in all). In addition, the two teams in each group with the best overall points from both rounds added together would qualify for the second phase. Therefore, a total of eight teams would qualify from Groups A and B.

First phase, Groups C and D

24 clubs, 22 selected from their records in the 1984 state championships, plus the finalists of the 1984 Série B, divided into two groups of 12, playing in two rounds, with each club playing only the clubs of their own group. Again, two full rounds were played. The winner of each round in each group would qualify (four teams in all). In addition, the two teams in each group with the best overall points from both rounds added together would qualify for the second phase. Therefore, a total of eight teams would qualify from Groups C and D.

Second phase

The 16 qualified teams of the first phase were placed into four mini-leagues (or groups) with four teams each. The teams played each other twice inside their own mini-league, and the winners of each mini-league qualified to the semifinals.

Semifinal

The four qualified teams were placed into two brackets of two teams with the teams in each bracket playing twice (home and away), and the winners, decided on aggregate score, qualified to the finals.

Finals

Played by the two qualified teams, in a single match, at the stadium of the finalist with the best record throughout the championship. In case of a draw in normal time, a penalty shootout would be used to determine the champions.

First phase

First round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Atlético Mineiro	10	6	3	1	17	8	+9	15	Second phase
2	Corinthians	10	5	3	2	14	6	+8	13
3	Guarani	10	5	2	3	17	12	+5	12
4	Grêmio	10	3	6	1	13	9	+4	12
5	Botafogo	10	4	2	4	14	16	−2	10
6	Fluminense	10	3	4	3	12	11	+1	10
7	Palmeiras	10	3	2	5	13	14	−1	8
8	Coritiba	10	3	1	6	8	14	−6	7
9	America-RJ	10	2	2	6	8	15	−7	6
10	Santa Cruz	10	2	2	6	8	20	−12	6

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Flamengo	10	6	2	2	12	5	+7	14	Second phase
2	Internacional	10	6	1	3	18	9	+9	13
3	Vasco da Gama	10	4	3	3	18	16	+2	11
4	Náutico	10	4	3	3	11	9	+2	11
5	São Paulo	10	4	2	4	17	19	−2	10
6	Santos	10	4	2	4	11	13	−2	10
7	Cruzeiro	10	3	4	3	11	10	+1	10
8	Bahia	10	3	4	3	8	10	−2	10
9	Portuguesa	10	2	2	6	9	16	−7	6
10	Goiás	10	1	4	5	10	17	−7	6

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sport	11	9	1	1	19	3	+16	19	Second phase
2	Mixto	11	5	4	2	12	10	+2	14
3	Botafogo-PB	11	4	6	1	9	7	+2	14
4	CSA	11	5	3	3	16	11	+5	13
5	Ceará	11	4	5	2	14	8	+6	13
6	Paysandu	11	3	6	2	11	8	+3	12
7	Nacional-AM	11	4	1	6	15	18	−3	9
8	Flamengo-PI	11	3	3	5	7	10	−3	9
9	ABC-RN	11	3	3	5	10	15	−5	9
10	Sampaio Corrêa	11	1	6	4	12	16	−4	8
11	Sergipe	11	2	2	7	6	17	−11	6
12	Remo	11	1	4	6	10	18	−8	6

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bangu	11	7	3	1	15	6	+9	17	Second phase
2	Ponte Preta	11	7	3	1	15	6	+9	17
3	Joinville	11	7	1	3	16	6	+10	15
4	Leônico	11	5	2	4	14	15	−1	12
5	Pinheiros	11	4	4	3	13	10	+3	12
6	Brasil de Pelotas	11	4	3	4	16	16	0	11
7	Brasília	11	4	3	4	12	12	0	11
8	Desportiva Ferroviária	11	4	0	7	12	17	−5	8
9	Villa Nova	11	3	2	6	10	15	−5	8
10	Uberlândia	11	2	4	5	11	14	−3	8
11	Vila Nova-GO	11	2	4	5	11	17	−6	8
12	Corumbaense	11	1	3	7	4	15	−11	5

Second round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Coritiba	10	5	2	3	10	9	+1	12	Second phase
2	Fluminense	10	4	3	3	12	10	+2	11
3	Guarani	10	2	7	1	10	9	+1	11
4	Botafogo	10	5	0	5	12	20	−8	10
5	Atlético Mineiro	10	4	2	4	13	11	+2	10
6	Corinthians	10	3	4	3	10	9	+1	10
7	Palmeiras	10	2	6	2	15	14	+1	10
8	Grêmio	10	3	3	4	12	12	0	9
9	America-RJ	10	2	3	5	11	16	−5	7
10	Santa Cruz	10	2	1	7	13	27	−14	5

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bahia	10	7	2	1	19	9	+10	16	Second phase
2	Vasco da Gama	10	6	2	2	10	6	+4	14
3	Goiás	10	4	2	4	11	10	+1	10
4	Internacional	10	3	4	3	9	7	+2	10
5	Santos	10	3	4	3	12	12	0	10
6	São Paulo	10	3	4	3	19	20	−1	10
7	Náutico	10	4	1	5	14	19	−5	9
8	Flamengo	10	3	3	4	21	13	+8	9
9	Portuguesa	10	2	5	3	10	10	0	9
10	Cruzeiro	10	2	4	4	12	12	0	8

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sport	11	9	1	1	23	7	+16	19
2	Ceará	11	9	0	2	20	9	+11	18	Second phase
3	Nacional-AM	11	6	3	2	24	11	+13	15
4	CSA	11	5	3	3	16	8	+8	13
5	Paysandu	11	5	3	3	15	13	+2	13
6	Mixto	11	5	3	3	11	12	−1	13
7	Botafogo-PB	11	3	4	4	12	16	−4	10
8	Remo	11	4	0	7	9	20	−11	8
9	ABC-RN	11	3	2	6	17	18	−1	8
10	Flamengo-PI	11	2	2	7	7	14	−7	6
11	Sergipe	11	1	3	7	9	20	−11	5
12	Sampaio Corrêa	11	1	2	8	12	27	−15	4

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bangu	11	7	2	2	22	10	+12	16
2	Brasil de Pelotas	11	6	4	1	20	9	+11	16	Second phase
3	Ponte Preta	11	5	5	1	22	12	+10	15
4	Vila Nova-GO	11	5	2	4	14	17	−3	12
5	Joinville	11	4	4	3	12	10	+2	12
6	Brasília	11	4	4	3	10	10	0	12
7	Pinheiros	11	3	5	3	8	7	+1	11
8	Uberlândia	11	4	1	6	15	12	+3	9
9	Desportiva Ferroviária	11	3	3	5	6	13	−7	9
10	Corumbaense	11	3	2	6	12	22	−10	8
11	Villa Nova	11	2	3	6	8	16	−8	7
12	Leônico	11	2	1	8	7	18	−11	5

Overall, aggregated results from the first phase

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Atlético Mineiro	20	10	5	5	30	19	+11	25	Second phase
2	Corinthians	20	8	7	5	24	15	+9	23	Second phase
3	Guarani	20	7	9	4	27	21	+6	23
4	Fluminense	20	7	7	6	24	21	+3	21
5	Grêmio	20	6	9	5	25	21	+4	21
6	Botafogo	20	9	2	9	26	36	−10	20
7	Coritiba	20	8	3	9	18	23	−5	19	Second phase
8	Palmeiras	20	5	8	7	28	28	0	18
9	America-RJ	20	4	5	11	19	31	−12	13
10	Santa Cruz	20	4	3	13	21	47	−26	11

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bahia	20	10	6	4	27	19	+8	26	Second phase
2	Vasco da Gama	20	10	5	5	28	22	+6	25	Second phase
3	Flamengo	20	9	5	6	33	18	+15	23	Second phase
4	Internacional	20	9	5	6	27	16	+11	23	Second phase
5	Náutico	20	8	4	8	25	18	+7	20
6	Santos	20	7	6	7	23	25	−2	20
7	São Paulo	20	7	6	7	36	39	−3	20
8	Cruzeiro	20	5	8	7	23	22	+1	18
9	Goiás	20	5	6	9	21	27	−6	16
10	Portuguesa	20	4	7	9	19	26	−7	15

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sport	22	18	2	2	42	10	+32	38	Second phase
2	Ceará	22	13	5	4	34	17	+17	31
3	Mixto	22	10	7	5	23	22	+1	27	Second phase
4	CSA	22	10	6	6	32	19	+13	26
5	Paysandu	22	8	9	5	26	21	+5	25
6	Nacional-AM	22	10	4	8	39	29	+10	24
7	Botafogo-PB	22	7	10	5	21	23	−2	24
8	ABC-RN	22	6	5	11	27	33	−6	17
9	Flamengo-PI	22	5	5	12	14	24	−10	15
10	Remo	22	5	4	13	19	38	−19	14
11	Sampaio Corrêa	22	2	8	12	24	43	−19	12
12	Sergipe	22	3	5	14	15	37	−22	11

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bangu	22	14	5	3	37	16	+21	33	Second phase
2	Ponte Preta	22	12	8	2	37	18	+19	32	Second phase
3	Joinville	22	11	5	6	28	16	+12	27
4	Brasil de Pelotas	22	10	7	5	36	25	+11	27	Second phase
5	Brasília	22	8	7	7	22	22	0	23
6	Pinheiros	22	7	9	6	21	17	+4	23
7	Vila Nova-GO	22	7	6	9	25	34	−9	20
8	Leônico	22	7	3	12	21	33	−12	17
9	Desportiva Ferroviária	22	7	3	12	18	30	−12	17
10	Uberlândia	22	6	5	11	26	26	0	17
11	Villa Nova	22	5	5	12	18	31	−13	15
12	Corumbaense	22	4	5	13	16	37	−21	13

Second phase

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Atlético Mineiro	6	3	3	0	7	3	+4	9	Semifinals
2	Guarani	6	1	4	1	9	5	+4	6
3	Ponte Preta	6	1	4	1	4	3	+1	6
4	CSA	6	0	3	3	1	10	−9	3

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brasil de Pelotas	6	4	1	1	11	4	+7	9	Semifinals
2	Flamengo	6	2	3	1	7	5	+2	7
3	Ceará	6	1	3	2	5	12	−7	5
4	Bahia	6	1	1	4	8	10	−2	3

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Coritiba	6	3	2	1	5	3	+2	8	Semifinals
2	Sport	6	2	3	1	7	6	+1	7
3	Joinville	6	2	1	3	8	7	+1	5
4	Corinthians	6	1	2	3	3	7	−4	4

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bangu	6	4	2	0	13	5	+8	10	Semifinals
2	Internacional	6	2	3	1	9	7	+2	7
3	Vasco da Gama	6	1	3	2	9	9	0	5
4	Mixto	6	0	2	4	4	14	−10	2

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Brasil de Pelotas	1–4	Bangu	0–1	1–3
Coritiba	1–0	Atlético Mineiro	1–0	0–0

Finals

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Coritiba	29	12	7	10	25	27	−2	31
2	Bangu	31	20	8	3	55	23	+32	48
3	Brasil de Pelotas	30	14	8	8	48	33	+15	36
4	Atlético Mineiro	28	13	9	6	37	23	+14	35
5	Sport	28	20	5	3	49	16	+33	45
6	Ponte Preta	28	13	12	3	41	21	+20	38
7	Ceará	28	14	8	6	39	29	+10	36
8	Joinville	28	13	6	9	36	23	+13	32
9	Flamengo	26	11	8	7	40	23	+17	30
10	Internacional	26	11	8	7	36	23	+13	30
11	Vasco da Gama	26	11	8	7	37	31	+6	30
12	Bahia	26	11	7	8	35	29	+6	29
13	CSA	28	10	9	9	33	29	+4	29
14	Mixto	28	10	9	9	27	36	−9	29
15	Guarani	26	8	13	5	36	26	+10	29
16	Corinthians	26	9	9	8	27	22	+5	27
17	Fluminense	20	7	7	6	24	21	+3	21
18	Grêmio	20	6	9	5	25	21	+4	21
19	Botafogo	20	9	2	9	26	36	−10	20
20	Náutico	20	8	4	8	25	28	−3	20
21	Santos	20	7	6	7	23	25	−2	20
22	São Paulo	20	7	6	7	36	39	−3	20
23	Cruzeiro	20	5	8	7	23	22	+1	18
24	Palmeiras	20	5	8	7	28	28	0	18
25	Goiás	20	5	6	9	21	27	−6	16
26	Portuguesa	20	4	7	9	19	26	−7	15
27	América-RJ	20	4	5	11	19	31	−12	13
28	Santa Cruz	20	4	3	13	21	47	−26	11
29	Paysandu	22	8	9	5	26	21	+5	25
30	Nacional	22	10	4	8	39	29	+10	24
31	Botafogo-PB	22	7	10	5	21	23	−2	24
32	Brasília	22	8	7	7	22	22	0	23
33	Pinheiros	22	7	9	6	21	17	+4	23
34	Vila Nova-GO	22	7	6	9	25	34	−9	20
35	Leônico	22	7	3	12	21	33	−12	17
36	Desportiva Capixaba	22	7	3	12	18	30	−12	17
37	Uberlândia	22	6	5	11	26	26	0	17
38	ABC	22	6	5	11	27	33	−6	17
39	Flamengo-PI	22	5	5	12	14	24	−10	15
40	Villa Nova-MG	22	5	5	12	18	31	−13	15
41	Remo	22	5	4	13	19	38	−19	14
42	Corumbaense	22	4	5	13	16	37	−21	13
43	Sampaio Corrêa	22	2	8	12	24	43	−19	12
44	Sergipe	22	3	5	14	15	37	−22	11

References

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 1985 at RSSSF