Novorizontino wins Série B and moves up alongside Juventude

The Brazilian Series B Championship came to an end this Saturday (14) with an unprecedented champion. Novorizontino, who had already secured access to Série A for the first time, beat Criciúma away from home 1-0 and also confirmed the competition title.

The club, founded in 2010, had only two state trophies in its brief history – there is no connection between it and the former Grêmio Esportivo Novorizontino, which dissolved in 1999 and which went on to win Série C in 1994.

The team from the interior of São Paulo scored 73 points, two more than Juventude, who beat Botafogo-SP 2-0 and took the second direct spot for the 2027 Series A.

Tigre's winning goal was scored in the 23rd minute of the second half, when midfielder Juninho, who had come off the bench, shot from the edge of the area and had a deflection in the defense to beat goalkeeper Airton.

In Caxias do Sul, the party was complete for the Juventude fans. Facing Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto, who no longer had any ambitions in the competition, the fans recorded the biggest attendance for Alfredo Jaconi in the last two years: exactly 18,413 present.

The best moments were in the second half: Fábio Lima and Raí Silva scored the goals that granted the team access to the 1st division after relegation in 2025; Furthermore, midfielder Alan Ruschel came on to play the last game of his career.

Ruschel was one of the survivors of the plane crash that killed almost the entire Chapecoense delegation traveling to the Copa Sudamericana final, in Medellín, Colombia, in 2016.

Playoffs

In addition to Novorizontino and Juventude, two more teams will move up to Série A. They will be known at the end of the access playoffs, a new feature introduced this season.

Vila Nova, which was defeated by Fortaleza 1-0 in the capital of Ceará, finished third, with 66 points, one position ahead of this Saturday's opponent, who had 65. The two teams will have the advantage of playing the second and decisive duel of their respective knockout stages at home.

Vila will play the local derby against Atlético-GO, who beat Cuiabá 1-0 and concluded the championship in sixth place, with 61 points. Criciúma, defeated by Novorizontino, was fifth, with 62 points and will be Fortaleza's opponent in the fight for the other place in the elite.

Those who ended up missing out were CRB, who started the last round in sixth place, but only drew 1-1 with Ceará at home and ended up in seventh, with 59 points.

The result guaranteed Vozão in Série B, with 44 points, one more than Avaí, who despite beating América-MG 2-0 at Independência were relegated with 43 points. The Ressacada team fell along with Coelho himself, Londrina and Ponte Preta, who were already mathematically relegated even before the final round.

Finally, in the duel between two teams that dreamed of reaching the knockout stages, Sport beat Goiás 3-0 on Ilha do Retiro and both teams finished with 58 points, with the team being one place ahead, in eighth, according to the tiebreaker criteria.