Atlético Nacional

Atlético Nacional is a football club from the city of Medellín, Colombia. It is the club with the most titles in Colombia. Likewise, it is considered one of the most popular and emblematic teams in Colombia and South America.

Founded on 7 March 1947 under the name Club Atlético Municipal de Medellín and registered by public deed on 30 April 1947 at the first notary's office of Medellín. In 1950, the former president of the Liga Antioqueña de fútbol, Luis Alberto Villegas, changed the club's name to Club Atlético Nacional.

The club has played in the top category of the División Mayor del Fútbol Colombiano, the Categoría Primera A, since its foundation in 1948, without ever having been relegated to the Primera B, like Millonarios F.C. and Independiente Santa Fe, both from the city of Bogotá.

It is the most decorated team in Colombian football with 33 official titles between national and international championships, and for this reason it is popularly known as the Rey de Copas ("King of Cups"). Nationally, it is the club with the most championships won in the Primera A with 17, the most successful in the Copa Colombia with 5 titles and, in turn, three-time champion of the Superliga. Internationally it has won 7 titles; it is one of only two Colombian teams to have been crowned champion of the Copa Libertadores, together with Once Caldas, and with two cups it is the only one to have done so more than once; likewise, it is the club that won the most titles in the Copa Merconorte, with 2; it was also champion of the Copa Interamericana twice and of the Recopa Sudamericana once.

Since the 2017-I tournament, it is the team that has won the most points in a single all-play-all phase, in short tournaments, with 49 (62, if the second phase is counted). It was runner-up in the Copa Intercontinental in 1989, the Copa Libertadores in 1995, the Recopa Sudamericana in 1990 and the Copa Simón Bolívar in 1971, and it was three-time runner-up in the Copa Sudamericana, in 2002, 2014 and 2016; in addition to this, at the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup it won the bronze medal by winning the third-place match of the tournament.

The club has played its home matches since 1953 at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot; its sports headquarters is located in the municipality of Guarne, to the east of the Aburrá Valley, and its administrative headquarters in the municipality of Itagüí. It plays the Clásico paisa against Independiente Medellín, in addition to having strong rivalries with Millonarios and América de Cali.

According to the IFFHS it is the second-best Colombian club of the 20th century and the best Colombian club so far in the 21st century. In 2014 the organisation ranked it as the 5th-best team in the world and as the best in the Americas according to its annual club ranking. In 2016 it was recognised as the best team in the world, the first time that a non-European club has held this position worldwide in this ranking. Likewise, it ranks 58th in the IFFHS all-time world club ranking, being the second-best-placed Colombian team on the list.

According to CONMEBOL it is the best Colombian club in international tournaments with 579.6 points and it ranks seventh in the official ranking of clubs in the Copa Libertadores. It is recognised by FIFA as one of the Classic Clubs of the World and Cultor del Fútbol Lírico ("Cultivator of Lyrical Football").