# 1976 Campeonato Paulista

The 1976 Campeonato Paulista da Divisão Especial de Futebol Profissional was the 75th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Palmeiras won the championship for the 18th time. No teams were relegated. Botafogo's Sócrates was the highest goalscorer, with 15 goals.

## Championship

The championship was divided into two rounds; in the first, the eighteen teams of the championship were divided into three groups of six teams, with each team playing once against all other teams, and the four best teams of each group passing to the Second round. The team with the most points in the first phase regardless of group would gain a bonus point for the Second round. In the second round, the remaining twelve teams would all play against each other once, and the team with the most points would be champion. Although no teams were relegated from last year's championship, Saad, which had been invited into the last two championships, wasn't invited back into the championship for 1976.

### First round
#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | São Paulo | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 24 | 10 | +14 | 23 | Qualified |
| 2 | Portuguesa | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 28 | 21 | +7 | 20 | Qualified |
| 3 | XV de Piracicaba | 17 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 15 | Qualified |
| 4 | São Bento | 17 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 19 | −9 | 14 | Qualified |
| 5 | Comercial | 17 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 17 | −4 | 14 | |
| 6 | Paulista | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 10 | |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Guarani | 17 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 30 | 12 | +18 | 26 | Qualified |
| 2 | Corinthians | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 29 | 9 | +20 | 24 | Qualified |
| 3 | Ferroviária | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 17 | Qualified |
| 4 | Botafogo | 17 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 13 | Qualified |
| 5 | Juventus | 17 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 23 | −11 | 13 | |
| 6 | Marília | 17 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 31 | −22 | 5 | |

#### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Palmeiras | 17 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 24 | 12 | +12 | 25 | Qualified |
| 2 | Ponte Preta | 17 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 22 | Qualified |
| 3 | América | 17 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 18 | +2 | 21 | Qualified |
| 4 | Noroeste | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 18 | Qualified |
| 5 | Santos | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 16 | −1 | 17 | |
| 6 | Portuguesa Santista | 17 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 41 | −32 | 9 | |

### Second round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Palmeiras | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 19 | Champions |
| 2 | XV de Piracicaba | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 14 | |
| 3 | Guarani | 11 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 13 | |
| 4 | Botafogo | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 12 | |
| 5 | América | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 12 | |
| 6 | Ponte Preta | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 11 | |
| 7 | São Paulo | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 11 | |
| 8 | Portuguesa | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 11 | |
| 9 | Noroeste | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 9 | |
| 10 | São Bento | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 9 | |
| 11 | Corinthians | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 7 | |
| 12 | Ferroviária | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 5 | |