| Season: | 1978 |
| Manager: |  Rubens Minelli |
| Mgrtitle: | Manager |
| Chairman: | Henri Couri Aidar Antônio Leme Nunes Galvão |
| Chrtitle: | Chairman |
| League: | Campeonato Brasileiro |
| League Result: | 19th |
| Cup1: | Copa Libertadores |
| Cup1 Result: | Group stage |
| Cup2: | Campeonato Paulista |
| Cup2 Result: | Runners-up |
| League Topscorer: | Milton (14) |
| Season Topscorer: | Milton (22) |
| Prevseason: | 1977 |
| Nextseason: | 1979 |
The 1978 season was São Paulo's 49th season since club's existence.
| width=60 | Position | width=60 | Nation | width=60 | Playing position | width=150 | Name | width=80 | Copa Libertadores | width=80 | Campeonato Brasileiro | width=80 | Campeonato Paulista | width=80 | Others | width=80 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | FW | Milton | 0 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 22 | |||||||||
| 2 | | FW | Serginho | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | |||||||||
| 3 | | MF | Neca | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13 | |||||||||
| 4 | | FW | Edu Bala | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 11 | |||||||||
| 5 | | FW | Zé Sérgio | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 6 | | DF | Bezerra | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | |||||||||
| = | DF | Darío Pereyra | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 7 | | FW | Mirandinha | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |||||||||
| 8 | | MF | Muricy | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
| 9 | | MF | Viana | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |||||||||
| 10 | | MF | Armando | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
| = | | DF | Getúlio | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
| = | | MF | Teodoro | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
| = | | FW | Zequinha | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
| 11 | | MF | Chicão | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| = | | DF | Marião | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| = | | FW | Müller | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| = | | MF | Valtinho | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Own goals | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 6 | 42 | 61 | 17 | 126 |
| Games played | 87 (6 Copa Libertadores, 26 Campeonato Brasileiro, 52 Campeonato Paulista, 3 Friendly match) |
| Games won | 36 (1 Copa Libertadores, 10 Campeonato Brasileiro, 24 Campeonato Paulista, 1 Friendly match) |
| Games drawn | 28 (3 Copa Libertadores, 8 Campeonato Brasileiro, 15 Campeonato Paulista, 2 Friendly match) |
| Games lost | 23 (2 Copa Libertadores, 8 Campeonato Brasileiro, 13 Campeonato Paulista, 0 Friendly match) |
| Goals scored | 126 |
| Goals conceded | 80 |
| Goal difference | +46 |
| Best result | 6–1 (H) v Ríver - Campeonato Brasileiro - 1978.04.06 |
| Worst result | 1–4 (A) v Santos - Campeonato Paulista - 1979.01.28 |
| Most appearances | |
| Top scorer | Milton (22) |