This entry presents the two main national and official competitions between state champions that preceded the Taça Brasil de Futebol, namely, the 1920-CBD Champions Tournament and the 1937-FBF Champions Tournament, which are two different competitions, only with the same intention, challenge between state champions.
Winners of the competitions were:
The tournament of 1920 was held in March in Rio de Janeiro in the format of a league ("round robin"). All matches took place in the Estádio das Laranjeiras of Fluminense FC. It was the first competition organised by the Confederação Brasileira de Deportes, the precursor of today's CBF. Participants were the following winners of their state championships of 1919:
Paulistano had to play without their star Rubens Salles who had to stay back in São Paulo due to undeferrable commitments. Grêmio Brasil featured Ismael Alvariza, who became in December 1920 the first player from a club outside Rio and São Paulo to play in the national team.
According to a report by Placar (1976), the competition was called "Brazilian Championship of Champions Clubs".[1]
Final table:
| Pl. | Club | Matches | W - D - L | Goals | Points | ||
| style=text-align:right | 1. | CA Paulistano | 2 | 2 - 0 - 0 | 11-4 | 4-0 | |
| style=text-align:right | 2. | Fluminense FC | 2 | 1 - 0 - 1 | 7-6 | 2-2 | |
| style=text-align:right | 3. | Grêmio Brasil | 2 | 0 - 0 - 2 | 5-13 | 0-4 |
See main article: article and 1937 Brazilian Football Championship. The 1937 tournament was organised by the Federação Brasileira de Futebol in January and held in a league format ("round robin") with home and away legs. Participants were the five state champions of 1936 and a delegation of the sports club of the navy, which qualified through an internal process. Participating teams were:
Atlético Mineiro, Fluminense and Portuguesa were automatically qualified. The other participants played for one more place:
Qualification
| 6 January 1937 | SC Aliança - Liga de Sports da Marinha | 0-2 | ||
| 11 January 1937 | Rio Branco AC - Liga de Sports da Marinha | 2-0 aet |
The Matches
| 10 January 1937 | Portuguesa - Fluminense FC | 4-1 | ||
| 13 January 1937 | Fluminense FC - Atlético Mineiro | 6-0 | ||
| 13 January 1937 | Rio Branco AC - Portuguesa | 3-1 | ||
| 17 January 1937 | Fluminense FC - Rio Branco AC | 5-2 | ||
| 20 January 1937 | Rio Branco AC - Atlético Mineiro | 1-1 | ||
| 24 January 1937 | Atlético Mineiro - Portuguesa | 5:0 | ||
| 24 January 1937 | Rio Branco AC - Fluminense FC | 4-3 | ||
| 27 January 1937 | Fluminense FC - Portuguesa | 6-2 | ||
| 31 January 1937 | Portuguesa - Rio Branco AC | 4-0 | ||
| 31 January 1937 | Atlético Mineiro - Fluminense FC | 4-1 | ||
| 3 February 1937 | Atlético Mineiro - Rio Branco AC | 5-1 | ||
| 14 February 1937 | Portuguesa - Atlético Mineiro | 2-3 |
Final table
| Pl. | Club | Matches | W - D - L | Goals | Points | ||
| style=text-align:right | 1. | Atlético Mineiro | 6 | 4 - 1 - 1 | 18-10 | 9-3 | |
| style=text-align:right | 2. | Fluminense FC | 6 | 3 - 0 - 3 | 22-16 | 6-6 | |
| style=text-align:right | 3. | Rio Branco AC | 6 | 2 - 1 - 3 | 10-19 | 5-7 | |
| style=text-align:right | 4. | Portuguesa de Desportos | 6 | 2 - 0 - 4 | 13-18 | 4-8 |
Winner was Atlético Mineiro with the following team: Kafunga, Clóvis - Florindo, Quim - Zezé Procópio, Lola, Bala, Alcindo - Paulista, Abraz, Alfredo Bernardino, Bazzoni, Guará, Nicola, Resende, Elair - Coach: Floriano Peixoto. Atlético usually played in a 2-3-5 formation.[3]
Notes: