Football in Salvador Bahia, Vitória and a match at the Fonte Nova

EC Bahia

Esporte Clube Bahia was founded on 1 January 1931, when the football departments of two older clubs merged. The colours tell the story: blue from the Associação Atlética da Bahia, white from the Clube Baiano de Tênis and red from the state flag. Hence the nickname Tricolor; the team is also the Esquadrão de Aço, the steel squad, and its mascot, a tricolour Superman, was drawn by the cartoonist Ziraldo in 1979.

Bahia has two national titles: the 1959 Taça Brasil, won against Santos in a deciding match at the Maracanã on 29 March 1960, and the 1988 Brazilian championship, won against Internacional. The semi-final against Fluminense on 12 February 1989 drew 110,438 people to the old Fonte Nova, still the ground's record. Add a record five Copa do Nordeste titles (the latest in 2025) and 52 state titles, the latest in March 2026.

In December 2022 the members voted by a huge majority to sell 90% of the new football company, the SAF, to the City Football Group. The deal closed on 4 May 2023; the original club keeps 10% and the rights to the crest and colours. The proposal as reported in 2022 was worth about R$ 1 billion over up to 15 years, roughly half for players, 30% for debts and 20% for infrastructure and youth teams. Bahia finished seventh in the 2025 Série A and played the Copa Libertadores in 2025 and its qualifying rounds in 2026. Off the pitch, the club has run public campaigns on racism, LGBTQ rights and the treatment of women in the stands since members took over its politics in 2013.

EC Vitória

Esporte Clube Vitória is the older club. Brothers Artur and Artêmio Valente and seventeen friends founded it on 13 May 1899 as the Club de Cricket Victoria, named after the Vitória neighbourhood. It plays in red and black stripes, goes by the Leão da Barra (the lion of Barra), and its lion mascot, Lelê, was given dreadlocks in 2017 as a nod to the city's Afro-Brazilian roots. Vitória has about 30 state titles, was runner-up in the 1993 Brazilian championship, won the 2023 Série B for its first national title, stayed up in Série A in 2025 by beating São Paulo on the last day, and in June 2026 won the Copa do Nordeste against Fortaleza.

Its ground is the Estádio Manoel Barradas, the Barradão, named after a former club president. It opened on 11 November 1986 and holds about 30,800 under its current safety certificate. The address is Rua Artêmio Castro Valente 1, in Canabrava, roughly 11 km north-east of the old town in a straight line. The club plans to rebuild it as a larger Arena Barradão, but the start has slipped more than once: in November 2025 the state sports agency spoke of works from late 2026 and delivery in 2029, with Pituaçu or the Fonte Nova as possible temporary homes. Check where Vitória is playing before you plan your day.

The Ba-Vi derby

Bahia against Vitória is the Ba-Vi, and the city talks about little else in derby week. The first, on 10 April 1932, was a 20-minute match in an opening tournament, won 3-0 by Bahia. By late August 2026 they had met 508 times: 199 wins for Bahia, 154 for Vitória and 155 draws. The biggest state-championship crowd was 97,240 paying fans on 7 August 1994.

Vitória fans like to recall that the first match at the rebuilt Fonte Nova, on 7 April 2013, was a Ba-Vi they won 5-1. Bahia fans have 2026: a 2-1 comeback in the state final on 7 March, with two goals from Jean Lucas, a 1-1 league draw on 11 March and a 2-0 win at the Barradão on 23 August.

How the season runs

The Brazilian football year starts in January and ends in early December, with a long pause when a World Cup is on. The CBF published the 2027 calendar on 9 October 2026.

Competition	What it is	2026	2027
Campeonato Baiano	State championship, 10 clubs	10 Jan to 7 Mar	10 Jan to 7 Mar
Série A	National league, 20 clubs	28 Jan to 2 Dec, paused for the men's World Cup	27 Jan to 1 Dec, paused for the Women's World Cup
Copa do Brasil	National knock-out cup	18 Feb to 6 Dec	6 Jan to 5 Dec; Série A clubs join from late Feb
Copa do Nordeste	Regional cup	25 Mar to 7 Jun	24 Mar to 13 Jun

Série A games fall on weekends, with a midweek round on Wednesday or Thursday nights every few weeks, so a week in Salvador between February and November usually offers at least one home game. The last round on 2 December 2026 decides who plays where in 2027.

The Arena Fonte Nova

The first stadium here, the Estádio Octávio Mangabeira, named after the governor of the day, opened on 28 January 1951. The architect Diógenes Rebouças gave it a horseshoe shape, open at the south end toward the lake of the Dique do Tororó, and an upper ring added in 1971 pushed the capacity past 100,000. On 25 November 2007, during a Série C match between Bahia and Vila Nova, part of that upper ring gave way while fans celebrated promotion. Seven people died and about forty were hurt. The stadium closed, and its upper tier was brought down with explosives on 29 August 2010.

The new arena, built for about R$ 592 million at the time, keeps the horseshoe and the open end facing the Dique, which lets the breeze through. It opened on 5 April 2013 and holds about 48,700. It has since hosted the 2013 Confederations Cup, six matches of the 2014 World Cup (including Spain 1-5 Netherlands, Germany 4-0 Portugal and a quarter-final won by the Netherlands on penalties against Costa Rica), men's and women's football at the 2016 Olympics and five games of the 2019 Copa América. Its record crowd, 51,227, saw Belgium beat the United States on 1 July 2014.

The state of Bahia owns the arena; a private operator runs it under a partnership that now ends on 31 March 2028. Itaipava held the naming rights from 2013 and the betting firm Casa de Apostas from 2024. After a federal provisional measure of 25 September 2026 banned fixed-odds betting, the betting firm gave the name up, and on 19 October 2026 the stadium became the Arena Acelen Fonte Nova, after the energy company that runs the Mataripe refinery. Everyone still says "the Fonte Nova". The address is Ladeira da Fonte das Pedras, in Nazaré.

Stadium tour and the Museu do Bahia

You do not need a match to go inside. The Tour na Fonte, run by the arena with EC Bahia since August 2025, goes Wednesday to Sunday at 10:00 and 14:00, booked in advance, with no tours on match days, public holidays or event days. Groups are up to 35 and the visit takes about 90 minutes to two hours, through the dressing room, the press room, the box level, the mixed zone, the tunnel and the benches beside the pitch.

Ticket	Price shown in October 2026
Museu do Bahia only	R$ 30 (about US$ 6, € 5)
Tour na Fonte	R$ 60 (about US$ 12, € 10)
Tour na Fonte + Museu do Bahia	R$ 60 (about US$ 12, € 10)

The museum covers the club's history with trophies, documents, photographs and a tribute to the fans. Bahia members pay half, and children up to six go free with a photo ID. Book on the Museu do Bahia website or at the arena; the entrance is through the VIP car park at Ladeira da Fonte das Pedras 432.

Buying tickets as a visitor

Brazil's general sports law requires facial recognition at arenas with more than 20,000 seats, and both Salvador grounds use it for every fan. You register your face once, buy online, and on match day look into the camera at your sector's gate. The arena says no ID is needed at the turnstile.

At the Fonte Nova. Entry has been by face only since June 2025. Register through the "Reconhecimento Facial" page of the arena website, which links to Ingresse's form; you can do it before you have a ticket. The 2025 press guides listed what it asks for: name, email, date of birth, CPF, a selfie taken on your phone and a photo of an identity document. Children register from age seven. Bahia home games are then sold only online through Ingresse, on its app or via the arena website; there are no ticket windows.

The CPF question. The CPF is Brazil's taxpayer number, and the forms described in the press ask for one. We could not confirm a passport-only route for 2026, so settle it a week before: get a CPF (free for foreigners, as our guide for long stays explains) or ask through the help chat on the arena's registration page how a visitor should register.

Who buys first. Bahia sells in waves: its membership plans check in first, in priority groups, over several days, and the general sale opens after them. For the March 2026 derby it opened at 10:00 the day before the match; for ordinary league games it tends to open two or three days ahead, and online sales run until about kickoff.

At the Barradão. Vitória went face-only on 23 April 2025. Since July 2026 its tickets have been sold by Balada App, part of the Ticketmaster group, which handles purchase and face registration in one system. The club's membership programme is called Sou Mais Vitória.

Ticket prices and where to sit

Prices change with the opponent, and the clubs run promotions on quieter dates. This was the Fonte Nova list for a Bahia home game against Bragantino in November 2025, a typical Série A fixture:

Sector	Full price	Half price
Cadeira Superior Norte or Leste	R$ 80 to 84 (about US$ 16)	R$ 40 to 42
Cadeira Norte	R$ 100 (about US$ 19)	R$ 50
Cadeira Leste or Sudeste	R$ 110 (about US$ 21)	R$ 55
Cadeira Especial Inferior	R$ 140 (about US$ 27)	R$ 70
Visiting fans	R$ 140	R$ 70
Lounge Premium	R$ 300 (about US$ 58, € 51)	not listed

That game also had a promotional block in the Sudeste sector at R$ 40, and for Bahia-Botafogo in May 2026 the upper Leste and Norte sectors were R$ 40 (R$ 20 half price). Half-price tickets are only for people entitled to them under Brazilian law, with proof. Children up to 11 went in free at the November game, though they still need the face registration from age seven.

For a first match, the Leste and Norte sectors put you among Bahia's home crowd with a full view. The Especial Inferior seats are lower and closer, the Superior sectors are the cheapest way in, and the Lounge Premium is the top ticket. Stay out of the visiting sector unless you support the away team.

Getting to the Fonte Nova

By car. From the Cidade Alta the arena is about 10 minutes away outside match traffic, so a ride-hailing car is the simple choice. The streets around it fill up in the last hour before kickoff, so leave early. The car parks, run by Estapar, cost R$ 50 to R$ 70 per match (about US$ 10 to 13) since January 2026.

By metro. The nearest station is Campo da Pólvora on Line 1, about 400 metres from the arena and one stop from Lapa. The fare is R$ 4.10 (about US$ 0.80), paid by tapping a contactless card or phone. The metro normally runs from about 5:00 to midnight; after big night events Campo da Pólvora usually stays open for boarding until about 0:30 or 1:00, though not every time. From the airport, take Line 2 to Acesso Norte and change to Line 1, roughly 35 minutes. See our getting around guide and airport guide.

On foot. The stadium is about 1 km south-east of the Largo do Pelourinho in a straight line, with a valley between, so the walk takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes and some climbing. It is a pleasant way to arrive for a daytime game; after an evening match, take the metro or a car back.

The Dique do Tororó. The lake beside the open end of the stadium is worth an hour before an afternoon kickoff. Eight large orixá sculptures by the artist Tatti Moreno have stood in the water since 1998, with four more on the banks, and the lake is also called the Bacia de Oxum, after the orixá Oxum. Our Candomblé guide explains who the orixás are.

Getting to the Barradão

The Barradão is a longer trip, in Canabrava, reached mainly by the Avenida Aliomar Baleeiro. It has its own car park, but spaces are few on big days. A ride-hailing car there and back is the practical choice: request the return a few streets from the gates, or wait 20 minutes, because demand peaks at the final whistle.

Matchday tips

Colours. Bahia plays in blue, red and white, Vitória in red and black. At a Bahia home game leave red and black at home, and at the Barradão skip the tricolour. For a shirt, use the club shops; Bahia's Loja do Bahia had branches in malls including Shopping da Bahia in 2024.

Beer. Bahia's state law 12.959, in force since February 2014, allows alcohol at stadium bars and in the boxes. Sales start two hours before kickoff, in plastic cups of up to 500 ml, and never to anyone under 18.

Kickoff times. They follow television. Bahia home games we saw in 2025 and 2026 started at 16:00 on a Sunday, 17:00 on a Saturday, 20:00 on a Wednesday and 21:30 on a Wednesday, for the visit of São Paulo on 28 October 2026. Dates can move a week or two before the game, so check again.

Arrive early. Aim to be at your gate an hour before kickoff; at a 2025 game the arena blamed long queues partly on fans who had not registered their faces.

Keep it simple. Carry a phone, a card and a little cash in a front pocket, and leave jewellery behind. Crowds are good-natured; the moments to stay alert are the walk out and the wait for a car. Our safety guide has the city-wide picture, and Salvador at night suggests where to go after a late game.

The Women's World Cup in 2027

The Fonte Nova is one of eight venues for the FIFA Women's World Cup, which Brazil hosts from 24 June to 25 July 2027 with 32 teams. Salvador gets seven matches: group games on 25, 27 and 29 June and on 2, 4 and 7 July, and a round-of-16 tie on 12 July. The draw is on 11 December 2026, and Série A stops for the tournament. Our guide to the Women's World Cup 2027 in Salvador covers tickets and where to stay.

A base for match days

The Cidade Alta works well for a football trip: the Fonte Nova is a short ride away and the Pelourinho's bars are there for the evening. Our four suites are in the Cidade Alta, a few minutes on foot from the Elevador Lacerda and the Pelourinho, and are booked on Airbnb, where guests message us directly. Our map of Salvador shows the arena, the Dique and the old town together, and things to do in Salvador fills the rest of the week.

Frequently asked questions

Can tourists buy tickets for a Bahia game at the Fonte Nova?

Yes. Register your face on the arena website first, then buy online through Ingresse when the general sale opens, usually one to three days before the match. There are no ticket windows and no paper tickets.

Do I need a CPF to go to a football match in Salvador?

The face registration forms described in the Brazilian press ask for one. Foreigners can get a CPF free; without one, ask through the help chat on the arena's registration page, a week ahead, how visitors should register.

How much does a ticket cost?

For a regular Série A game at the Fonte Nova in late 2025, seats ran from R$ 80 to R$ 140 (about US$ 15 to 27), with promotional blocks at R$ 40 and the Lounge Premium at R$ 300.

When is the football season in Salvador?

From January to early December: the state championship to early March, Série A from late January to the first days of December, and the Copa do Nordeste from late March to June. In 2027 the league pauses from late June to late July for the Women's World Cup.

Which metro station is closest to the Arena Fonte Nova?

Campo da Pólvora on Line 1, about 400 metres from the stadium. The fare is R$ 4.10, paid by contactless card at the gate.

Can you visit the Arena Fonte Nova without a match?

Yes, on the Tour na Fonte, Wednesday to Sunday at 10:00 and 14:00, booked ahead. It costs R$ 60 (about US$ 12) with the Museu do Bahia included.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Arena Fonte Nova (capacity, rebuild cost, PPP end date; in Portuguese) and English page (tournament matches, record crowd; checked Oct 2026).
• Wikipedia: Estádio Fonte Nova (1951 opening, 1971 ring, 1989 record, 2007 collapse, 2010 implosion; checked Oct 2026).
• Máquina do Esporte: Arena Acelen Fonte Nova and Poder360 (new name, betting ban; in Portuguese; Oct 2026).
• Arena Fonte Nova: official site (facial registration, fixtures; in Portuguese; checked Oct 2026).
• Museu do Bahia (tour prices; in Portuguese) and Correio: o tour pela Fonte Nova (days, times, discounts; Nov 2025; checked Oct 2026).
• Wikipedia: Esporte Clube Bahia, 1959 Taça Brasil, 90min: SAF terms and TNH1: sale completed (checked Oct 2026).
• Wikipedia: Esporte Clube Vitória and Estádio Manoel Barradas (in Portuguese; checked Oct 2026).
• Bahia Notícias: Barradão works (Nov 2025), face-only entry (Apr 2025) and Balada App ticketing (Jul 2026; all in Portuguese).
• Wikipedia: Ba-Vi (record to August 2026; in Portuguese) and 2026 Campeonato Baiano (checked Oct 2026).
• Itatiaia: 2026 calendar and Gazeta Esportiva: 2027 calendar (in Portuguese; checked Oct 2026).
• Muita Informação: face-only access at the Fonte Nova (June 2025; in Portuguese).
• Correio: Ba-Vi tickets (Mar 2026), A Tarde: Bahia x Botafogo prices (May 2026) and Lance: Bahia x Bragantino prices (Oct 2025; all in Portuguese).
• Correio: metro match-night operation, A Tarde: metro fare 2026, Correio: station 400 metres away (in Portuguese) and Wikipedia: Salvador Metro (checked Oct 2026).
• Correio: Fonte Nova parking prices (Jan 2026; in Portuguese).
• LegisWeb: Bahia Lei 12.959/2014 (alcohol in stadiums; in Portuguese).
• Wikipedia: Dique do Tororó (sculptures; in Portuguese) and 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup (Salvador matches; checked Oct 2026).