 União São João finished the final phase group with the most points, and was declared 1996 Brazilian Série B champions, claiming the promotion to the 1997 Série A along with América-RN, the runners-up.The three worst ranked teams (Goiatuba, Sergipe and Central) were originally relegated to play Série C in 1997.However, with the cancellation of the relegations of Fluminense and Bragantino in the Série A, the three teams were kept in the Série B for 1997.