The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in Brazil, with around 15 million fans. The football team plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the state of São Paulo's premier state league, as well as in the Brasileirão Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system.
The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras was founded by Italian immigrants on 26 August 1914, as "Palestra Itália" (). However, the club changed its name on 14 September 1942, as a result of Brazil joining the Allies in the Second World War against Italy ("Itália" in Portuguese) and the Axis powers. Since then, Palmeiras has won 18 top-tier national competitions, including a record 12 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, 4 Copas do Brasil, 1 Copa dos Campeões, and 1 Supercopa do Brasil, the 1999, 2020 and 2021 Copa Libertadores, the 2022 Recopa Sudamericana, and the 1998 Copa Mercosul. The club has also been successful at a regional level as they have won 5 Interstate titles (Torneio Rio – São Paulo), and 26 State Championship titles (Campeonato Paulista).
Palmeiras currently occupies the second position on CBF and the first position CONMEBOL rankings, and was the first Brazilian club to win the IFFHS Men's Club World Ranking in 2021.
The squads for all five FIFA World Cups and two Olympic gold medals won by Brazil have had at least one Palmeiras player in them, an honour shared with cross-city rivals São Paulo.
The name Palmeiras usually refers to the football club, yet its athletic department competes in more than a dozen different sports. These include basketball and roller hockey (rink hockey), American football, archery, and karate among others.
History
Foundation At the beginning of the 20th century, several young Italians decided to start a club whose main goal was to form a football team that would be representative of the Italian community, and face the big names of São Paulo's football elite. Just over three decades earlier, Italy had been unified – a fact that was not known to some Italian-Brazilians and to some non-Italian Brazilians.
There were numerous Italian clubs, but each one represented an Italian province or was geared to activities other than football. At the time, the game was starting to take hold and drew many players and fans.
The founders of the club sought out the Fanfulla newspaper, which was the media outlet that defended the interests of Italians in Brazil, and entrusted young Vincenzo Ragognetti – another supporter of the idea – to draft an invitation to those interested in forming a sports club.
After several meetings, 46 interested individuals (led by Luigi Marzo and Luigi Cervo) gathered at the Alhambra Room on what is now Rua do Riachuelo, and founded a sports club for all Italian-Brazilians named "Palestra Italia" on 26 August 1914. Ezequiel Simone was named club president. The Italian Consulate in São Paulo became interested in the new club because it would help spread the word among Italians that their country now had one flag and one anthem.
After some initial difficulties, Palestra Italia played its first game in the town of Votorantim (São Paulo State) – beating Savoia 2–0 with goals from Bianco and Alegretti to win the Taça Savoia, the club's first title.
1920–1945: First state title and new stadium
In 1916, the team joined the city's main sports league and played its first official championship match. The following year it would be runner-up in the São Paulo State Championship, facing Corinthians for the first time. Palestra won that initial game 3–0 with three goals from Caetano; it also won the rematch 3–1 of what would become the team's chief rivalry. In 1920, Palestra Italia captured the São Paulo State championship with a victory over the rugged Paulistano squad in the deciding match.
Palestra continued to grow as a sports club and also began acquiring more assets. Estádio Palestra Itália, purchased in 1920, was remodeled and expanded in 1933, when it became the first Brazilian stadium with concrete grandstands and barbed-wire fences. Starting in 1964, the playing field would be suspended, which gave fans a complete, broad view and also created space in the lower levels.
The club continued to grow and win more championships, and at the outset of the 1930s became the three-time São Paulo State football and basketball champion – a feat that prompted Palestra fans to chant in celebration: "With the feet or with the hands, Palestra is the best in the land."
A Leader Dies, A Champion is Born
In 1942 during World War II, the government of President Getúlio Vargas issued a decree banning any organization from using names related to the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan). Palestra Italia was forced to change its name and became Palestra São Paulo ("palestra" is a Greek word, loosely translated as "gymnasium," which therefore did not violate this rule). However, the change still did not soothe political and sporting pressures to alter the name completely. At risk of forfeiting all its assets to other clubs and being ejected from the championship that it currently led, Palestra was forced to change its name a second time. The night before the last game of the state championship, scheduled for 20 September 1942, the Palestra board of directors held a heated meeting and changed the club's name. When the debate reached its peak, Dr. Mario Minervino took the floor and asked club secretary, Dr. Pascoal W. Byron Giuliano, to note in the minutes:
– "They don't want us to be Palestra, so then we shall be Palmeiras – born to be champions."
Tensions flared during the final league match, where Palmeiras's opponent was São Paulo Futebol Clube (SPFC), which was laying claim to the assets of the former Palestra Italia.
Palmeiras took the field carrying the Brazilian flag under the leadership of army Captain Adalberto Mendes. Palmeiras was leading the match by 3–1 when a penalty was given in its favor. At that moment, the SPFC ordered its players to consider the Palmeiras squad an enemy of the homeland and pulled its side off the field amid jeers from even the club's own fans. The celebrations began on the spot. The next day, newspapers contained a photograph of Palmeiras entering the field with the headline: "A Leader Dies, A Champion is Born."
Copa Rio: 1951
On 27 October 2017, the FIFA Council changed its position: while not promoting the statistical unification of the Intercontinental Cup and the Club World Cup, in respect to the history of the two tournaments (which merged in 2005), it made the Intercontinental Cup an official world title, recognizing all its winners as club world champions with the same title as FIFA Club World Cup winners: "FIFA Club World Champions.""While it does not promote the statistical unification of tournaments, that is, has not absorbed to the Intercontinental Cup (merged with FIFA Club World Cup in 2005), the title was conferred by an official document from the world federation so it is legally a FIFA world title" cfr. cfr.For FIFA statute, official competitions are those for representative teams organized by FIFA or any confederation. Representative teams are usually national teams but also club teams that represent a confederation in the interconfederal competitions or a member association in a continental competition cfr. cfr. cfr. In April 2019, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, in an interview with Brazilian media, reiterated FIFA's perspective that only the winners of the Intercontinental Cup and the Club World Cup were officially world champions. Also in April 2019, former FIFA president Joseph Blatter (who held office until December 2015) again stated to the Brazilian press that Palmeiras had been recognized as world club champions by FIFA in 2014.
In February 2021, the FIFA website praised Palmeiras's victory in the Copa Rio thus:
In any case, the Copa Rio was the first intercontinental football tournament to bring together the most prestigious 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. The tournament triggered discussions within continental football federations about exploring club football 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.
In the end, Palmeiras won the first intercontinental championship of the pre-international era of football, making the 'Copa Rio' one of the most important starting points of globalization for football. The 'Copa Rio' was important at the time but Palmeiras is still not recognized as an intercontinental champion by FIFA.
The "Academy" becomes a Brazilian giant
In the 1960s, the standard of quality of Palmeiras played – led by the one who would come to symbolize this period of football excellence, Ademir da Guia – led the Palestra Italia team to be called the "Academy" of Brazilian football.
The first academy had Djalma Santos, Djalma Dias, Dudu, Ademir da Guia, Julinho Botelho, Vavá, Liminha and Chinesinho as some of the outstanding players.
Managed by Filpo Núñez, Palmeiras players won the most important national competition in 1965, the Rio – São Paulo championship, with stand-out performances. Blow-outs against top rivals included seven goals scored against Santos, five against Botafogo in their home stadium of the Maracanã, five against São Paulo, and another four scored against Vasco. The title came to Palmeiras in another lopsided victory against Botafogo at Pacaembú Stadium in São Paulo.
That same year, the Brazilian Sports Federation (CBD) used the entire Palmeiras roster to inaugurate the Mineirão Stadium and represent Brazil in an official national team match against Uruguay for the Inconfidência Cup. The day that it donned the green and white, Palmeiras as Brazil was victorious 3–0 over the Uruguayan blue.
In the previous year, Palmeiras had won the Rio de Janeiro Quadricentennial Cup (Torneio do IV Centenário do Rio de Janeiro de 1965) by beating the Paraguay national team 5–2 and besting Peñarol of Uruguay in the final.
By the end of the 1960s, Palmeiras won the Copa do Brasil and the Roberto Gomes Pedrosa tournament – the Brazilian Championship equivalent at the time.
These victories laid the groundwork for the second Palmeiras Academy, with players like Luís Pereira, Leivinha, Emerson Leão, Dudu, Ademir da Guia and César.
Led by Osvaldo Brandão, the team captured several titles in the 1970s. It was a three-time São Paulo state champion – emerging undefeated in one of those tournaments – a two-time Brazilian champion, a three-time winner of Spain's Ramón de Carranza Trophy, and the winner of Argentina's Mar del Plata Trophy – considered the South American Club Championship.
1980s: The lost decade
Already used to victories at the "Academy" in the 1960s and 1970s, Palmeiras fans saw the 1980s come and go without championships or titles. In 1986, Palmeiras fielded a good team – routing Corinthians 5–1 and playing a historic game in the semifinals of the São Paulo State Championship against that same rival, prevailing 3–0. Ten years after winning its last state title, Palmeiras finally arrived at the final of the state championship, but lost to Inter de Limeira.
On 29 October 1986, Palmeiras fans adopted the pig as their mascot. At a game against Santos, the rival fans were chanting "pig"; the Palmeiras crowd responded with "Come On Pig!! Come On Pig!! Olé Olé Olé..." and "Go Piiiig...." A few days later, Placar sports magazine popularized the new nickname when it published an issue with Jorginho Putinatti – the symbol of that generation – holding a pig in his lap.