Palmeiras is a Brazilian professional association football team based in São Paulo. It is one of the most successful and traditional Brazilian and South American teams in international club competitions. They have won one Copa Rio title (in 1951) which was recognized by FIFA as a club world competition in 2014, three Copa Libertadores (in 1999, 2020 and 2021) along with one Recopa Sudamericana (2022) and a Copa Mercosur (1998) for a total of six international trophies.
Their first participation in international competitions was in 1951, when they qualified for the first ever intercontinental and international club world competition as the Paulista champion, one of the biggest championships at the time. Palmeiras then debuted in the Copa Libertadores in 1961 being runners-up against Penarol and the 1996 Copa CONMEBOL. In 1999, the club debuted in the former Intercontinental Cup against Manchester United. The club also debuted as champions of the first Copa Mercosur in 1998, the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021, and also respectively the Copa Sudamericana (Copa Conmebol and Mercosur successor) in 2003. The club also debuted in the Recopa Sudamericana in 2021.
Palmeiras are also the Brazilian club with the most participations in club world competitions, participating 5 times, winning once in 1951 and participating in the 1999, 2020, 2021 and 2025 editions.
Palmeiras is also the Brazilian club with most participations in the Copa Libertadores, having participated in 25 editions; the Brazilian club with the most goals, wins and best goal difference in the Libertadores; and the Brazilian club with the third-most number of goals in club world competitions.
History
First international conquest (1951) Palmeiras, took part in the first international competition, the 1951 Copa Rio after winning the 1950 Campeonato Paulista which at the time was one of the biggest football competitions in the world, the idea of the competition was to gather together the reigning champions of the world's top football national leagues, to determine the world club champion. Along with Palmeiras several other clubs also participated such as, Vasco da Gama, Juventus, Austria Wien, Sporting CP, Nacional Montevideo, Red Star and Nice.
The Copa Rio Internacional was the first known club competition of intercontinental scope, including clubs from more than one continent, in its first edition (1951) it was officially called the Torneio Internacional de Clubes Campeões, and called the "Mundial de Clubes" and "Cup of Champions" by several Brazilian and other outside newspapers. The importance of the 1951 Copa Rio is linked to the fact that it was the first interclub competition with worldwide coverage, having been created even before the Intercontinental Cup. The competition was organized by the Brazilian Sports Confederation, with aid and authorization from FIFA, and was sponsored by the municipal government of Rio de Janeiro. As a result, FIFA states that Palmeiras is the de facto holder of the title of the first worldwide club competition in history, by stating in the 2022 competition that Palmeiras already had a title.
In any case, the Copa Rio was the first intercontinental and interclub football tournament to bring together the most prestigious and victorious clubs from the most important leagues around the world. The matches were played at the same locations in which the 1950 FIFA World Cup games had been played the year before in Brazil. The tournament triggered discussions within continental football federations about exploring club football more internationally, which eventually led to the launch of international championships such as the European Cup (now known as the UEFA Champions League) and the Copa Libertadores, which would lead later to the creation of the Intercontinental Cup.
The national football scene was one of sadness due to the loss of the 1950 World Cup title, at Maracanã, when it was decided to organize the International Club Tournament in the 1951 season, a competition that became popularly known as Copa Rio due to sponsoring reasons.
In order not to cool the passion of Brazilian fans for football, after the loss of the world title, the Brazilian Sports Confederation (currently the Brazilian Football Confederation) organized the International Club Tournament in 1951. Champions (same name written on the trophy), which later became known as the Copa Rio or "Taça Rio". The competition brought together the main national champions of Europe and South America. The Italians of Milan, Italian champion of 1950/1951, chose to participate in the contemporary Latin Cup, which in the 1951 edition was hosted in Italy – thus foreshadowing the trend European Union to value national or European competitions more than international club competitions, a trend that would also show itself later when the Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup were created and received less importance from Europeans than they attribute to the FIFA World Cup. Champions of Europe (the English did not participate in the projected 1951 "Champion Clubs Tournament" and the inaugural edition of the European "Champion Clubs Cup", but it later became an "obsession"). However, Milan, with several important foreign players scheduled to go on vacation due to contract, competed in the Latin Cup wanting Inter to go in their place.
Ottorino Barassi, president of the Italian Football Federation and General Secretary of FIFA, was appointed as the competition's mentor. According to reports at the time, he discussed the format with the Brazilian Sports Confederation and defined the participants. Palmeiras debuted in the competition on 30 June 1951, victorious against OGC Nice and topped the group. This was followed by a 2–1 victory against the then Yugoslavian team, Red Star, effectively confirming Palmeiras' qualification to the semi-final of the Copa Rio.
Palmeiras still had to face Juventus in a group stage match before advancing, in which the team lost in the tournament's biggest thrash, 4–0. Even with the incredible defeat against Juventus, the team defeated a strong Vasco da Gama team in Maracana 1–2 and then held a 0–0 tie on 15 July to qualify to the final of the Copa Rio. And in a shocking first leg, Palmeiras won Juventus 1–0 with a goal from Francisco Rodrigues. Finally, on 22 July 1951, Palmeiras tied with Juventus 2–2 with between 100,000 and 200,000 fans in the Maracanã and won the first intercontinental and international club world championship and on its first international debut.
Controversy
The competition was organized by the Brazilian Sports Confederation, with the assistance and endorsement of FIFA, and had this name on the trophy because it was sponsored by the City of Rio de Janeiro. FIFA declares that Palmeiras holds the title of the first world competition between clubs in history. Approved by the FIFA Executive Committee on 7 June 2014. However, without changing the nomenclature or unifying the competition with the current FIFA Club World Cup, just as the entity also does with the Intercontinental Cup in its reports. From 2017 until the beginning of 2021, the entity had stopped mentioning the world status of the 1951 Copa Rio, despite the recognition decision granted by its executive committee not having been revoked. With the entity starting to treat the competition, during this period, as the "first intercontinental club tournament". However, FIFA reposted, in January 2021, the 2016 article where the entity used the term "world" to designate the Palmeiras achievement. Then, she published an article about the great Palmeiras teams throughout the 20th century, highlighting the Copa Rio, where the three main FIFA directors at the time are mentioned, including president Jules Rimet, in the dream championship held in 1951 and also reposted the 2016 article for the second time with the term "world cup". A year later, in February 2022, FIFA once again treated Palmeiras as world champions in 1951. On 1 March 2024, it was announced that Palmeiras' museum outside Allianz Parque had received a translated "ata" document from FIFA with celebrations for the confirmation of the title as an official club world competition and S.E. Palmeiras as the first club world champions.
Libertadores finals (1961 and 1968) In 1961, Palmeiras qualified for its first Libertadores on the second edition of the competition. In its group it only had Independiente from Argentina winning both the matches, eliminating Independiente and qualifying for the semi-finals in which they faced the Colombian team, Santa Fe winning them 6–4 on aggregate and advancing to the final where the team faced Penarol. Palmeiras lost 2–1 on aggregate, but became the first Brazilian team to reach the final of the tournament.
The first leg was played on 4 June 1961, at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, where Peñarol would beat Palmeiras 1–0. While the second leg was played on Sunday, 11 June at the Pacaembú Stadium in São Paulo, where Palmeiras and Peñarol tied 1 to 1.
Peñarol was once again crowned champion, after having won the title in the first edition. He thus became the first two-time champion of America. In addition, they obtained the right to play in the 1961 Intercontinental Cup against Benfica of Portugal, and also automatically qualified for the next edition of the tournament.
After 1961, Palmeiras then qualified for the Copa Libertadores of 1968 after winning the 1967 Campeonato Brasileiro. Palmeiras started off great, topping its group of four and advancing to the second round of which they also topped. In the semi-finals that team won Penarol, which at the time were the biggest winners of the competition. Palmeiras advanced to final, losing the first leg and winning the second leg. In playoffs Palmeiras suffered a 2–0 defeat and lost the final once again.
The first leg final was played on 2 May 1968, at the Jorge Luis Hirschi Stadium in La Plata, Argentina. In which the Argentine team beat the Brazilian team 2 to 1. The second leg final was played on 7 May 1968, at the Pacaembú Stadium, Brazil, in which the Brazilian team won 3 to 1. Because each team had won a game, they were equal on points so they had to play a third game on a neutral court. The tiebreaker was played on 16 May 1968, at the Centenario in Uruguay. The Argentine team beat the Brazilian team 2 to 0; and thus Estudiantes de La Plata won their first Copa Libertadores.
Ramón de Carranza Trophy
The Ramón de Carranza Trophy is a summer football competition that has been held in the city of Cádiz at the beginning of August since 1955, making it one of the most prestigious summer tournaments in Spain. It is one of the oldest alive football competitions in the world. The Big Green won the competition three times, in 1969, 1974 and 1975 and being second place in 1993. SeasonOppositionHomeAwayAggregateStadium1969 Real Madrid2–0Estadio Ramón de Carranza1974 Espanyol2–11975 Real Madrid3–1
Back to the international stage and "Parmalat era" (1990s)
In 1991, Palmeiras won the 1991 Copa Euro-America on its first edition. An intercontinental tournament between German and Brazilian teams. Having made more points than its rival, Corinthians who ended up being the runner-up of the competition.
In 1993, Palmeiras after a 15-year hiatus from the Copa Libertadores,https://olympics.com/pt/noticias/palmeiras-copa-libertadores-2023-jogos-onde-assistir Palmeiras won the 1993 Campeonato Brasileiro and reached the Libertadores, being eliminated in the group stage by rivals São Paulo. In 1995, Palmeiras reached the quarter-finals but were again eliminated by a Brazilian team this time being Gremio.