Third Level. The formula was entirely in groups: in the first phase the 49 groups were divided into 12 groups of 4 teams and the the top 2 teams moved to second phase. Now there were 6 groups of 4 teams each and the group winners qualified to the third phase – 2 groups of 3 teams each. The group winners were promoted to Second Level for 1989. Lastly, the group winners played a championship final. Since all teams played only against the other teams in their group, there were not all that many games: the contenders of the title played a total of 20 games. Those eliminated in the first phase – only 6 games. No trouble was envisioned – at least not in the formula of the championship, but there apparently was… a few teams forfeited the championship, most likely for financial reasons. The championship was completed without major problems, but it turned out to be useless championship – the Federation extinguished it in 1989 and enlarged the Second Level. Since the criteria for participation was not very clear, 1988 performance did not matter. Besides, some quite strange teams appeared in the 1988 championship along with clubs which played even First Level football in the last few years. Generally, all states were represented – very likely by teams playing relatively well in the state championships in 1987. Or because of previous participation in the national championship.
First phase:
Group 1.
1.ABC (natal – RN) 6 5 0/ 0 1 9- 5 15 Qualified
2.Campinense (Campina Grande – PB)6 3 0/ 1 2 7- 5 10 Qualified ————————————————–
3.Ferroviário-(Fortaleza-CE) 6 2 0/ 0 4 6- 9 6
4.América-(Natal – RN) RN 6 1 1/ 0 4 7-10 5
Group 2.
1.Botafogo-(Joao Pessoa-PB) 6 4 1/ 1 0 10- 4 15 Qualified
2.Paulistano (Paulista-PE)6 2 1/ 0 3 5- 5 8 Qualified ————————————————–
3.Auto Esporte-(Joao Pessoa-PB) 6 2 1/ 0 3 5- 9 8
4.Alecrim (Natal-RN) 6 0 1/ 3 2 2- 4 5
Group 3
1.Confiança (Aracaju-SE)4 1 2/ 1 0 5- 4 8 Qualified
2.Sergipe (Aracaju-SE)4 1 1/ 1 1 7- 5 6 Qualified ————————————————–
3.Capelense (Capela-AL)4 1 0/ 1 2 1- 4 4
Comercial FC (Viçosa-AL) – forfeited the tournament
Group 4
1.Lagarto (SE)2 1 1/ 0 0 2- 1 5 Qualified
2.Alagoinhas Atlético Clube-BA 2 0 0/ 1 1 1- 2 1 Qualified
Serrano SC (Vitória da Conquista-BA) – forfeited the tournament
Group 5
1.Tiradentes-(Brasilia-DF) 6 4 1/ 1 0 10- 4 15 Qualified
2.Anápolis GO 6 1 2/ 2 1 6- 6 9 Qualified ————————————————– 3.Taguatinga (Barsilia-DF)6 1 1/ 1 3 3- 5 6
4.Mixto (Cuiaba-MT) 6 1 1/ 1 3 4- 8 6
Group 6
1.Comercial-(Campo Grande-MS) 4 1 2/ 1 0 3- 1 8 Qualified
2.Novorizontino (Novo Horizonte-SP) 4 1 1/ 1 1 3- 2 6 Qualified ————————————————–
3.Douradense (Dourados-MS) 4 1 0/ 1 2 3- 6 4
América FC (São José do Rio Preto-SP) – forfeited the tournament
Group 7
1.Ferroviária (Araraquara-SP) 4 2 1/ 0 1 4- 3 8 Qualified
2.Ubiratan (Dourados-MS) 4 1 1/ 1 1 3- 3 6 Qualified ————————————————–
3.XV de Novembro (Jaú-SP) 4 0 1/ 2 1 4- 5 4
Group 8
1.Porto Alegre (Iteparuna-RJ) 6 1 4/ 1 0 7- 6 12 Qualified
2.Desportiva FVRD (Cariacica-ES) 6 2 1/ 2 1 10- 7 10 Qualified ————————————————–
3.Tupi (Juiz de Fora-MG) 6 1 2/ 2 1 7- 9 9
4.AA Cabofriense (Cabo Frio-RJ) 6 0 1/ 3 2 4- 6 5
Group 9
1.União São João (Araras-SP) 6 4 0/ 1 1 7- 2 13 Qualified
2.Esportivo Passense (Passos-MG) 6 2 1/ 1 2 3- 3 9 Qualified ————————————————–
3.Fabril (Lavras-MG) 6 2 0/ 1 3 5- 7 7
4.Mogi-Mirim (SP) 6 1 1/ 1 3 4- 7 7
Group 10
1.Volta Redonda (RJ) 6 2 3/ 1 0 6- 4 13 Qualified
2.Santo André (SP) 6 3 1/ 1 1 6- 2 11 Qualified ————————————————–
3. XV de Novembro (Piracicaba-SP) 6 1 1/ 3 1 5- 4 9
4.Colorado (Curitiba-PR) 6 0 1/ 1 4 4-11 3
Group 11
1.Brusque (SC) 6 2 2/ 1 1 4- 2 11 Qualified
2.Figueirense (Florianopolis-SC) 6 2 2/ 0 2 6- 6 10 Qualified ————————————————–
3.Esportivo-(Bento Gonsalves-RS) 6 2 1/ 1 2 6- 8 9
4.Internacional/(Santa Maria-RS) 6 1 0/ 3 2 4- 4 6
Group 12
1.Marcílio Dias (Itajai-SC) 6 4 1/ 0 1 7- 4 14 Qualified
2.Blumenau (SC) 6 4 0/ 1 1 11- 5 13 Qualified ————————————————–
3.Iguaçu (Uniao da Vitoria – PR) 6 2 1/ 0 3 8- 8 8
4.Guarany (Cruz Alta-RS) 6 0 0/ 1 5 5-14 1
Second phase
Group 13
1.Botafogo-PB 6 4 0/ 1 1 8- 5 13 Qualified ——————————————– 2.Campinense 6 3 0/ 0 3 14-11 9
3.ABC 6 2 1/ 0 3 5- 8 8
4.Paulistano 6 2 0/ 0 4 6- 9 6
Group 14
1.Lagarto 6 2 3/ 0 1 6- 5 12 Qualified ————————————————– 2.Atlético-BA 6 3 0/ 2 1 6- 4 11
3.Sergipe 6 2 0/ 2 2 5- 4 8
4.Confiança 6 1 1/ 0 4 3- 7 5
Group 15
1.Tiradentes-DF 6 4 0/ 0 2 12- 9 12 Qualified ————————————————–
2.Anápolis 6 2 2/ 0 2 5- 7 10
3.Comercial-MS 6 2 0/ 1 3 7- 5 7
4.Ubiratan 6 2 0/ 1 3 5- 8 7
Group 16
1.Esportivo-MG 6 3 0/ 3 0 9- 3 12 Qualified ————————————————–
2.Volta Redonda 6 2 1/ 1 2 6- 7 9
3.Porto Alegre 6 2 1/ 0 3 6- 7 8
4.Desportiva 6 1 2/ 0 3 4- 8 7
Group 17
1.União São João 6 3 1/ 0 2 8- 5 11 [1 1 1/0 0 2- 1 5] Qualified ————————————————–
2.Santo André 6 3 0/ 2 1 8- 5 11 [1 0 0/1 1 1- 2 1]
3.Blumenau 6 1 3/ 0 2 5- 6 9
4.Brusque 6 1 0/ 2 3 4- 9 5
Group 18
1.Marcílio Dias 6 3 1/ 1 1 8- 6 12 Qualified ————————————————–
2.Ferroviária 6 2 1/ 1 2 5- 4 9
3.Novorizontino 6 2 1/ 0 3 5- 6 8
4.Figueirense 6 2 0/ 1 3 3- 5 7
Third phase
Group 19
1.Esportivo-MG 4 2 1/ 0 1 9- 2 8 Qualified, promoted ————————————————–
2.Botafogo-PB 4 2 0/ 0 2 5- 7 6
3.Lagarto 4 1 0/ 1 2 2- 7 4
Group 20
1.União São João 4 2 0/ 1 1 5- 3 7 Qualified, promoted ————————————————–
2.Marcílio Dias 4 2 0/ 0 2 4- 4 6
3.Tiradentes-DF 4 1 1/ 0 2 3- 5 5
Final [Dec 16 and 18]
Esportivo-MG 1-1 2-2 União São João
So far, so good… the finalists already won their Third phase groups and thus earned promotion to Second Level by the 1988 rules. The title, however was decided by the questionable rule Brazil employed for years: in case of a tie, whoever had better season record won. Thus, the title went to Uniao Sao Joao.
Esportivo Passense from the state of Minas Gerais ended vise-champion, but it was unbeaten at the final and promoted to Second Level. Altogether, great season for this quite anonymous club. Standing from left: Roberto Costa, Fronteira, Luis Carlos Bahia, Timoura, Ivanildo, Edson Shel.
First row: Zé Vitor, Marcos Ferrugem, Carlos Roberto, Telo, Helder.
Uniao Sao Joao won the Third Level championship and promotion to Second Level. Fine, but still let see if promotion was honoured in 1989…