Campeonato Mineiro · History

Atlético Mineiro hold the record for Campeonato Mineiro titles with 50, ahead of Cruzeiro with 39 and América with 16. Behind the three Belo Horizonte clubs come Villa Nova, from Nova Lima, with five; Siderúrgica, from Sabará, with two; and Caldense and Ipatinga with one each. Played since 1915 and run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF), it is the state championship of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and reached its 112th edition in 2026.

Beginnings in Belo Horizonte

The first edition took place in 1915 under the Liga Mineira de Sports Athléticos, the body that later became the FMF, and Atlético won it. The following year began the longest run in the competition: América were champions ten years in a row, from 1916 to 1925, although the federation only ratified the last title of that streak in 2012. Their forward Britto finished as top scorer five times between the 1910s and the early 1920s. In its early decades the tournament involved only clubs from the capital and its surroundings and was known as the Campeonato da Cidade, or City Championship. The name Campeonato Mineiro, with teams from across the state, was adopted in 1958.

Splits and professionalism

The 1920s and 1930s brought rival governing bodies. In 1926 a group of breakaway clubs founded the Associação Mineira de Esportes Terrestres, and in 1932 there were two champions: Atlético, under the Liga Mineira de Desportos Terrestres, and Villa Nova, under the Associação Mineira de Esportes Gerais. Professional football arrived in 1933, when the leagues merged. Villa Nova went on to win in 1933, 1934 and 1935, four in a row counting 1932, and won again in 1951. Siderúrgica took the title in 1937 and 1964. Palestra Itália, the club that became Cruzeiro, had already been champions from 1928 to 1930 and added the 1940, 1943, 1944 and 1945 titles.

The Mineirão years

In 1956 the title was shared between Atlético and Cruzeiro. The opening of the Mineirão on 5 September 1965 coincided with Cruzeiro's first long run: five straight titles from 1965 to 1969, then four more between 1972 and 1975. Tostão was the tournament's top scorer three times between 1966 and 1968, and Atlético's Dario four times between 1969 and 1974. Atlético answered with the competition's first run of six consecutive titles, from 1978 to 1983.

A title shared by two rivals

Between 1984 and 1999 Cruzeiro lifted the trophy in 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992 and 1994, plus three in a row from 1996 to 1998; Atlético won in 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1995 and 1999. Only América, in 1993, broke the sequence. In the 2000s the title left the capital twice: Caldense, from Poços de Caldas, won in 2002, and Ipatinga in 2005. América won it again in 2001 and 2016.

Format and divisions

In the 2026 edition, the Módulo I top flight had twelve clubs split into three groups of four in the first stage, followed by semi-finals and a final. Teams finishing fifth to eighth contest the Taça Inconfidência, and the two weakest group-stage records are relegated to the Módulo II. Below that sits the Segunda Divisão, the third tier of football in Minas Gerais.

From Atlético's second six-in-a-row to 2026

Cruzeiro won in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011 and 2014 and took back-to-back titles in 2008-2009 and 2018-2019. Atlético won in 2000, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017, then strung together six straight titles from 2020 to 2025, matching their run of four decades earlier and reaching 50 championships. In 2026 the final was a single match at the Mineirão on 8 March. Cruzeiro won 1-0 with a second-half goal from Kaio Jorge, denying their rivals a seventh straight title and claiming their 39th state championship, their first since 2019.