Uberlândia and ASA to decide biggest-ever Série D champion on Sunday

Uberlândia and ASA to contest the 2026 Série D titleCredits: Marcus Vinicius

Uberlândia and ASA will face off this Sunday (13) for the 2026 Série D title, the biggest edition of all time. At Parque do Sabiá, in the city of Uberlândia (AL), the team from Minas Gerais and the Alagoas side will meet starting at 5 p.m. (Brasília time), with coverage by Metrópoles, to decide the champion of the tournament's 18th edition.

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In the first leg of the final, Uberlândia, playing away from home, beat ASA 2-0 at Coaracy Fonseca in Arapiraca (AL). João (own goal) and Jhonatan Lima found the net and put the Green Hurricane in a position to lift the trophy even if they lose by one goal.

To overturn the result, Alagoas' Black-and-White side needs to win by at least two goals to take the decision to penalties, and by three or more to become champion within the 90 minutes.

The teams' attacking power is identical. In 21 matches, both have scored 28 goals, and their top scorers have each netted nine times in the competition: Tomas Bastos for Uberlândia, and Michel Douglas, who started the tournament with CSE-AL and is now with ASA.

Uberlândia hold a two-goal advantage to secure the 2026 Série D titleCredits: Marcus Vinícius /Flickr Uberlândia

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THE BIGGEST IN HISTORY

Sunday's match will be the 610th game of a historic Série D edition — in 2025, there were 510 matches. The championship expanded from 64 to 96 participating clubs, symbolizing a 50% increase and broader national representation, and it now grants promotion to six teams to the 2027 Série C.

The increase in the number of teams guaranteed each club at least 10 to 14 matches. As a result, it provided a more stable and predictable calendar, running from April 4 to September 13. Investment in participation fees rose 64%: from R$40 million to R$65.5 million allocated to all teams.

The 2026 Série D could be the biggest title in ASA's historyCredits: @apollofotografiaefilms/Press Release/Instagram/@asaoficial and @motta_m10

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Another initiative was the creation of the promotion playoffs, which brought greater excitement and competitiveness for the teams. The four clubs eliminated in the quarterfinals took part in this stage. That was how Goiatuba-GO and Nacional-AM earned promotion to Série C.

The new measures are part of the reforms to the men's professional football calendar announced in October 2025. One of the guidelines behind the changes was to guarantee more matches for the base of the Brazilian football pyramid and, consequently, boost the teams' performance and planning.

In addition, the champion club (Uberlândia or ASA) qualifies directly for the third round of the 2027 Copa do Brasil.

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