Flamengo RJ

El Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, popularly known as Flamengo, is a sports club created in the Flamengo neighborhood of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was founded on 15 November 1895, and is the oldest club in the country with the same name and segment that has not merged. It plays its home matches at the Estadio Maracaná and its kit consists of a shirt with horizontal red and black stripes, white shorts and red and black socks. Flamengo is one of the two Brazilian clubs that have never left the Brazilian Primera División, the other being São Paulo.

Its football activity began in 1912. Flamengo is the club with the most Campeonato Carioca titles, and has won three consecutive championships on six occasions. In addition, it is one of the three teams that have played every edition of the Campeonato Brasileño de Serie A in the current points format and the only team that has played every edition of the league in its modern era (since 1971). On 26 July 2009, it became the first team to reach the milestone of one thousand matches in the Campeonato Brasileño de Fútbol. Together with Botafogo, it holds the record for the longest unbeaten run, at 52 matches in 1979.

Its greatest international achievements are the 1981 Copa Intercontinental and the Copas Libertadores of 1981, 2019 and 2022. It has also won the 2020 Recopa Sudamericana, the 1996 Copa de Oro Nicolás Leoz and the 1999 Copa Mercosur, which gives it third position in the ranking of international titles among Brazilian clubs. Nationally, Flamengo has won the Campeonato Brasileño 7 times, the Copa de Brasil 4 times, the Supercopa de Brasil 2 times and the Copa de Campeones once; these fifteen achievements give the club second place in the ranking of national titles, behind only Palmeiras. Regionally, it has won the Campeonato Carioca 38 times, the Copa Guanabara twenty-three times, the Copa de Campeones Río-São Paulo once and the Torneo Río-São Paulo once, making it the greatest winner of state competitions.

It has the second highest number of Campeonato Brasileiro wins since 1971 (when the name Campeonato Nacional de Clubes was adopted), with 7 titles (tied with Corinthians); counting the Copa União, already cataloged by the CBF among the Brazilian titles of 1983 and 1992 as a separate achievement but with the value of a national league, it would be the greatest champion, tied with Palmeiras. It is also the team with the most matches played: 1,622 (1971 to 2023). According to a survey conducted by ESPN Brasil, it was also the first club in Brazil to win all possible national and international titles, namely: national championship, cup and supercup, in addition to the two main continental tournaments, the continental supercup and the intercontinental tournament. Flamengo is the only club in the top 3 of national and international achievements among Brazilian teams.

Flamengo is the club with the best overall average performance in the history of the Copa Libertadores; up to the 2023 edition the club has the second highest win percentage and the lowest loss percentage, totaling almost 64% of the points considering 3 points per win and 59.65% in overall performance, both competition records for teams with more than one participation. It is also the club with the best average performance in the history of the Copa do Brasil, where it has the highest win percentage and the lowest loss percentage, the most wins, goals, series won and appearances in finals, semifinals and quarterfinals; its 4 titles place it behind Cruzeiro and Grêmio as the third greatest champion.

Its greatest sporting milestone was reached on 13 December 1981, when it was crowned champion of the Copa Intercontinental played in Japan, defeating the UEFA representative, Liverpool of England, 3-0 at the now defunct Estadio Nacional de Tokio. Because of this great victory, FIFA itself officially recognizes it as “Club World Champion”, in addition to it being the only team from Rio de Janeiro to hold this distinction.

Among other achievements, Flamengo was chosen the ninth greatest football club of the 20th century in a survey conducted by FIFA. In 2019, Flamengo was chosen the best team in South America and the fourth best in the world according to the ranking compiled by the IFFHS. Together with Santos, it is also one of the only clubs that have won the Copa Libertadores and the Campeonato Brasileiro in the same season (achieved in 2019). It is also, together with Atlético Mineiro, Santa Cruz, Arsenal (England) and Dublín (Uruguay), one of only five clubs in the world that have beaten the Brazilian national football team.

Flamengo's great rivalries are Vasco, against whom it plays the Clássico dos Milhões (Derby of the Millions), Fluminense, against whom it plays the Fla-Flu, and Botafogo, against whom it plays the Clássico da Rivalidade (Derby of the Rivalry). There is also an interstate rivalry with Atlético Mineiro and, in recent years, with Palmeiras. The Brazilian media also try to force a rivalry between Flamengo and Corinthians, since they are the most popular clubs in the country, but the fans of both do not see the match-up as a rivalry.

According to research by the Instituto Brasileiro de Opinião Pública e Estadística (IBOPE), Flamengo is the Brazilian club with the largest number of torcedores (supporters) in the country and in the world, with fans spread across all regions of Brazil. It is estimated that 42.5 million fans are supporters of Flamengo. Flamengo began 2021 in first position in the club ranking compiled by the CBF with a total of 16,768 points. Since 2018, Flamengo has been considered the most valuable club in Brazil, becoming in 2019 the most valuable team in South America, as well as the 70th most valuable football team in the world, valued at more than 145.7 million euros. The Fla-Flu holds the world record for attendance at a match between clubs: 194,603 spectators, at the final of the 1963 Campeonato Carioca, won by Flamengo after a goalless draw.

In addition to rowing and football, other sports stand out, such as basketball, where the men's team has been national champion eight times, South American champion in 1953 and 2009, champion of the Americas in 2014 and 2021, and world champion in 2014 and 2022. It became the first club in South America to win the world championship in both football and basketball.