The Taça Brasil (or Brazil Trophy) was a Brazilian national football competition which was contested from 1959 to 1968. It was the most important football tournament in Brazil at the time and can be compared, in importance level, to the current Campeonato Brasileiro.

Bahia and Cruzeiro were the only champions to have played all phases of the tournament, because teams from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo were already qualified to the semi-finals. Both teams beat the great and world famous Santos FC of Pelé, Coutinho and Pepe.

Relationship with the Copa Libertadores

The Taça Brasil was founded to enable Brazil to provide contenders for the newly-created Copa Libertadores de América, an international club competition contested in South America and broadly equivalent to the European Champions Cup.

From 1959 to 1964 the winner of Taça Brasil was selected to be the sole Brazilian competitor in the next year's Copa Libertadores. In 1965 and 1966, the two finalists of the Taça Brasil were both chosen to represent Brazil in the next year's Copa Libertadores, which was expanded in 1966. In 1967 and 1968, the winner of the Taça Brasil qualified for the next year's Copa Libertadores, along with the winner of the newly created Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa (also known as the "Taça de Prata"). 1968 was the last year the Taça Brasil was contested; in 1969 and 1970 the top two teams in the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa became the two Brazilian entrants in the following year's Copa Libertadores, before the formation of the Campeonato Brasileiro, a Brazilian national league championship, in 1971.

Champions

Year		Final				Semifinalists
		Winner	Score	Runner-up
1959 Details		EC Bahia	3 - 2 0 - 2 3 - 1	Santos FC		Vasco da Gama	Grêmio
1960 Details		Palmeiras	3 - 1 8 - 2	Fortaleza EC		Fluminense	Santa Cruz
1961 Details		Santos FC	1 - 1 5 - 1	EC Bahia		América	Náutico
1962 Details		Santos FC	4 - 3 1 - 3 5 - 0	Botafogo		Sport Recife	Internacional
1963 Details		Santos FC	6 - 0 2 - 0	EC Bahia		Grêmio	Botafogo
1964 Details		Santos FC	4 - 1 0 - 0	Flamengo		Palmeiras	Ceará SC
1965 Details		Santos FC	5 - 1 1 - 0	Vasco da Gama		Palmeiras	Náutico
1966 Details		Cruzeiro	6 - 2 3 - 2	Santos FC		Fluminense	Náutico
1967 Details		Palmeiras	3 - 1 1 - 2 2 - 0	Náutico		Grêmio	Cruzeiro
1968 Details		Botafogo	2 - 2 4 - 0	Fortaleza EC		Cruzeiro	Náutico

Titles by Team

• Santos 5 times
• Palmeiras 2 times
• Bahia, Botafogo and Cruzeiro 1 time

Top Goal Scorers

• 1959 Léo (Bahia) 8 goals
• 1960 Bececê (Fortaleza) 7 goals
• 1961 Pelé (Santos) 9 goals
• 1962 Coutinho (Santos) 7 goals
• 1963 Pelé (Santos) and Ruitter (Confiança) 12 goals
• 1964 Pelé (Santos) 7 goals
• 1965 Bitá (Náutico) 9 goals
• 1966 Bitá (Náutico) and Toninho Guerreiro (Santos) 10 goals
• 1967 Chiclete (Treze) 6 goals
• 1968 Ferreti (Botafogo) 7 goals

External links

• CBF Confederação Brasileira de Futebol - Brazilian Football Confederation
• Taça Brasil at RSSSF Brasil