The beginning and professionalism at the club , (), Heitor,
Luiz Carvalho e Lacy. Crouching: Amâncio, (), Sardinha II, Eurico Lara, Dário e Comani. On 7 September 1903, Brazil's oldest football team,
Sport Club Rio Grande, played an exhibition match in
Porto Alegre. An entrepreneur from
Sorocaba, São Paulo, named Cândido Dias was besotted with the sport and he went to watch the match. During the match, the ball deflated. As the only owner of a football in Porto Alegre, he lent his ball to the players and the match resumed. After the match, he talked to the local players about how to start a football club. On 15 September 1903, 32 people, including Cândido Dias, met at Salão Grau, a local restaurant and founded "Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense". Most of the founding members were part of the city's
German community. Carlos Luiz Bohrer was elected as first president. The club's first match took place on 6 March 1904, against
Fuss Ball Porto Alegre, the first of two matches played that day. Grêmio won the first match 1–0. Unfortunately, the name of the player who scored the club's first goal is lost to history. The trophy Grêmio won that day, the Wanderpreis, is still displayed at the club's museum. Within 5 months the club had inaugurated the Baixada, its first home. On 18 July 1909, Grêmio beat
Internacional 10–0 on the latter's debut game. Grêmio's goalkeeper Kallfelz reportedly left the field to chat with fans during the match. Even now this victory is remembered with pride by Gremistas (Grêmio supporters). The match was the starting point for a rivalry that rages on to this day. Grêmio was one of the founding members of the Porto Alegre football league in 1910, and in 1911 won the league for the first time. On 25 August 1912, in a city league match, Grêmio beat Sport Clube Nacional of Porto Alegre 23–0. Sisson scored 14 goals in the match to record Grêmio's biggest ever win. In 1918, Grêmio became a founding member of the
Fundação Rio-Grandense de Desportes (later known as
Federação Gaúcha de Futebol), a federation that organized the first state championships in
Rio Grande do Sul. The first championship was scheduled for 1918, but the Spanish flu epidemic forced the event to be postponed until 1919. In 1921, a year after the arrival of legendary goalkeeper
Eurico Lara, Grêmio won its first state championship. On 7 July 1911, Grêmio beat
Uruguay's national team 2–1. In 1931, Grêmio became one of the first teams in Brazil to play matches at night after installing floodlights at Estádio Baixada. On 19 May 1935, Grêmio became the first team from Rio Grande do Sul to beat a team from the state of São Paulo (considered the strongest Brazilian league at the time) by defeating
Santos 3–2. Grêmio was also the first club outside
Rio de Janeiro state to play at the
Maracanã Stadium, defeating
Flamengo 3–1 in 1950. During this period, Grêmio started to earn a reputation abroad. In 1932 it played its first international match in
Rivera (Uruguay). In 1949, the match against Uruguay's
Nacional ended in a 3–1 win for Grêmio and the players received a hero's welcome on their return to Porto Alegre. In that same year, Grêmio played for the first time in Central America. Between 1953 and 1954, Grêmio travelled to Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia, a tour dubbed "the conquest of the Americas". On 25 February 1959, Grêmio defeated
Boca Juniors 4–1 in Buenos Aires, becoming the first foreign team to beat Boca at
La Bombonera. In 1961, Grêmio went on its first European tour playing 24 games in 11 countres: France, Romania, Belgium, Greece, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Denmark, Estonia and Russia. The
Gremistas (Grêmio fans) were growing in number. 1946 saw the first appearance of the club's motto
"com o Grêmio onde o Grêmio estiver" ("with Grêmio wherever Grêmio may be"), which was later written into Grêmio's official anthem. An anthem penned by
Lupicinio Rodrigues, a
samba-cancao composer who became one of the most famous and revered Grêmio fans. The anthem celebrates the Gremistas reputation for attending all Grêmio matches, regardless of the difficulties and obstacles they might have to overcome to see their club. In the late 1950s, Grêmio joined the
Taça Brasil, as the Brazilian league was known at the time. The team reached the Taça Brasil semi-finals in 1959, 1963 and 1967. In 1968, the team won its first international title in a friendly cup with teams from Brazil and
Uruguay. In 1954, Grêmio inaugurated what was at the time the biggest private stadium in Brazil, the
Olímpico Stadium. In 1971, the
Taça Brasil championship was replaced by the
Campeonato Brasileiro with the first goal ever scored in the Campeonato Brasileiro coming from Grêmio's
Néstor Scotta, an
Argentine, in a match against
São Paulo at
Estádio do Morumbi. Grêmio maintained a series of respectable results in Campeonato Brasileiro, usually achieving a top half finish.
Valdir Espinosa and the Intercontinental Cup 1983 in
1983 Copa Libertadores. The match ended in 3–3 with aggressions and hostile climate at the
Jorge Luis Hirschi stadium Grêmio's first dominant period in South American football began in the early 1980s. Propelled by the completion of their new stadium, the
Olímpico Monumental. Grêmio won its first Campeonato Brasileiro on 3 May 1981, after defeating
São Paulo at the
Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo. The scores in the two-leg final were 2–1 at Olímpico and 1–0 for Grêmio at Morumbi. The winning goal was scored by striker Baltazar. Earlier, on 26 April 1981 Olímpico had its biggest attendance ever, when 98,421 fans watched Grêmio lose to
Ponte Preta 0–1 in the Campeonato Brasileiro semi-final. vs
Peñarol in Montevideo 1983 was the most successful year in Grêmio's history. First, Grêmio won the South-American
Copa Libertadores, after a consistent yet eventful campaign. One of the matches of the semi-final, the 3–3 draw against
Estudiantes at
Jorge Luis Hirschi Stadium, became legendary for its belligerence on and off the pitch and is dubbed the "Batalha de La Plata" ("Battle of La Plata"). In the finals, Grêmio beat the 1982 South America and World champions
Peñarol from Uruguay, with a 1–1 draw in
Montevideo and a 2–1 win in Porto Alegre. The winning goal was scored by César just before the end of the match. A year later, Grêmio was runner-up in the Copa Libertadores final, being defeated by Argentina's
Independiente. Also in 1983, Grêmio won the
Intercontinental Cup after defeating
Hamburger SV of Germany 2–1.
Renato Portaluppi scored both goals. With Uruguayan defender
De León and goalkeeper Mazaropi also earning club legend status on the back of their performances in the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup. Porto Alegre, was deafened by the gremista's chant of:
"The Earth is Blue". Soon after winning the Intercontinental Cup, Grêmio beat
America of Mexico in Los Angeles, and won the
Los Angeles Cup. In 1989, Grêmio won the first
Copa do Brasil, a Brazilian knockout cup featuring football teams from all around the country. After humiliating Flamengo with a 6–1 win in the second leg of the semi-finals, Grêmio defeated
Sport Recife in the final, with a 0–0 draw in Recife and a 2–1 win in Porto Alegre. In 1991, after a poor season, Grêmio was relegated for the first time to the
Brazilian Second Division but gained immediate promotion back to the Campeonato Brasileiro's elite the following season (1993). After this return to form, 1994 saw Grêmio win its second Copa do Brasil, defeating
Ceará in the two-leg final (0–0 and 1–0), the solitary goal scored by striker Nildo. This win kickstarted the club's
Tokyo Project. On 11 December 1994, due a bloated and extensive schedule, Grêmio had to play three matches in a single day at the
Olímpico Monumental during the
1994 Campeonato Gaúcho. These matches began at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and 8 p.m. against
Aimoré,
Santa Cruz, and
Brasil de Pelotas respectively. They drew the first match and won the other two, using a total of 34 different players from the first team, reserves and
academy. The matches had a small public attendance of 758 fans — 247 paying. The matches were also played in temperatures of in the summer heat of Porto Alegre.
Luiz Felipe Scolari and the Libertadores 1995 won the
1995 Copa Libertadores, the
1996 Campeonato Brasileiro and other important competitions and
Paulo Nunes lead Grêmio to reach practically all trophies of the 1990s. Together they won the
1995 Copa Libertadores and the
1996 Recopa Sudamericana In May 1995, under head coach
Luiz Felipe Scolari, Grêmio were runners-up in the
Copa do Brasil, losing the final match to
Corinthians 0–1 at Olímpico Monumental. In August, a few days after beating arch-rivals Internacional for the state title with a reserve squad, the club won the Copa Libertadores for the second time. Defeating
Atlético Nacional of Colombia 3–1 in Porto Alegre and drawing 1–1 in
Medellín. The tournament was marked by fierce matches against
Palmeiras in the quarter-finals. Palmeiras had perhaps the best squad on the competition, with players such as
Rivaldo,
Cafu,
Edmundo,
César Sampaio,
Antônio Carlos,
Roberto Carlos and
Mancuso. They were soundly beaten by Grêmio in the 1st leg in an epic 5–0 match with a hat-trick from
Mário Jardel. Palmeiras beat Grêmio 5–1 in the return leg, with Jardel's lone strike proving enough to see Grêmio through to the Semi-finals. This qualified the club to the
1995 Intercontinental Cup where Grêmio pushed a talented
Ajax (featuring
Patrick Kluivert,
Overmars,
Van Der Sar and
Kanu) into extra time and penalties despite being a player down. Early 1996 saw Grêmio win the
Recopa Sudamericana, beating Argentina's
Independiente 4–1. On 15 December 1996, Grêmio won its second
Campeonato Brasileiro, defeating
Portuguesa in the final. Portuguesa won the first match at home 2–0, and therefore Grêmio was forced to win the final match at Porto Alegre by the same score or more. Grêmio got to 2–0, with midfielder Ailton scoring the second goal a few minutes before the final whistle. Grêmio won the title due to their higher finish in the league. In 1997, Grêmio won their third
Copa do Brasil title. In the finals against
Romário's
Flamengo, Grêmio won on away goals after a 0–0 draw in Porto Alegre and a 2–2 draw in Rio de Janeiro. Four years later, in 2001, Grêmio won their fourth Copa do Brasil, defeating
Corinthians. The first leg of the final, in Porto Alegre, finished with the score of 2–2. The second game in São Paulo ended with a 3–1 Grêmio victory, in a match which is regarded as one of the finest in Grêmio's history.
Second relegation, Batalha dos Aflitos and the Libertadores 2007 was the captain for 4 years (2006–2009) and lead Grêmio to the
2007 Copa Libertadores Finals On 2000, Grêmio closed a multi-million deal with Swiss sports marketing firm
International Sport and Leisure (ISL). With the newfound income, Grêmio made large investments and expensive hirings, such as
Zinho,
Paulo Nunes,
Gabriel Amato and
Leonardo Astrada. However, soon in 2001 ISL went bust after a large corruption scandal involving
FIFA. After declaring bankruptcy, the company transferred part its debt to Grêmio. The club's quickly amassed debt would spiral out of control, soon they would be unable to pay player's salaries and do other investments, which resulted in poor field performance. In 2004, after performing poorly for two consecutive seasons in the Série A, Grêmio finished bottom of the league and were relegated to
Campeonato Brasileiro's Second Division. Série B brought even less revenue, which combined with the club's large debt threatented to snowball into Grêmio's bankruptcy. However, after a successful campaign in the group stage, Grêmio failed in the competition and were eliminated by
San Lorenzo in the
Round of 16. A few days before, the club was defeated 6–2 on aggregate by their biggest rival, the
Internacional, in the finals of the
Campeonato Gaúcho. With nothing more than a regular campaign at the beginning of the
Série A, club president Fábio Koff signed
Luiz Felipe Scolari as the new coach of the team. The club also invested in
Giuliano, the biggest hiring of the year. In 2015, former Grêmio player Roger Machado was hired as the new manager. A short lived but initially successful run, Machado's time with Grêmio saw them qualify for the 2016 Copa Libertadores with a finish in the Campeonato Brasileiro in 3rd place. Machado oversaw a famous victory over beat bitter rivals Internacional with a 5–0 drubbing in "
Grenal" No. 407. Nonetheless, towards the end of the year, the team began to show a lack of organization, especially in its defensive system. As fan support dwindled, Roger announced his resignation after a 3–0 loss against Ponte Preta in September 2016. Renato Portaluppi replaced him and under his guidance a resurgent Grêmio became champions of the Copa do Brasil against Atlético Mineiro in a 4–2 aggregate score, making them the Brazilian club with the most titles in this tournament (5). After this historic feat, fans affectionately nicknamed Grêmio the "Rei de Copas" (King of Cups). In 2017, Grêmio won their third Libertadores, after defeating
Club Atlético Lanús 1–0 at
Arena do Grêmio, followed by a 2–1 victory in
Estadio Ciudad de Lanús. Luan was named the player of the tournament, while goalkeeper
Marcelo Grohe performed spectacularly with a heroic, almost impossible save in the semi-final match against
Barcelona Sporting Club. They became the third Brazilian club to win a third Copa Libertadores, after
São Paulo and
Santos. The club went on to represent
CONMEBOL at the
2017 FIFA Club World Cup, held in the United Arab Emirates. Grêmio beat
Pachuca 1–0 in a tight semi-final, the goal coming from Everton in extra-time. They were beaten 0–1 by
Real Madrid in the
final.
2018 Season and Libertadores Grêmio once again finished 4th in the 2018
Campeonato Brasileiro securing a place in the
Copa Libertadores de América having been knocked out in the semi-final of the tournament on goal-difference in 2018 by a late
River Plate goal to end the match 2–2. The goal was scored from a penalty, given on review of a handball by the
VAR from Matheus Bressan in the 95th minute. Bressan was subsequently transferred. In the hours following the match it was revealed that
River Plate manager
Marcelo Gallardo had broken the rules of his touchline ban at half-time by entering the River dressing room. Grêmio appealed the result within 24 hours of the final whistle based on this information. It took
CONMEBOL 2 days to deliberate, deciding that the result should stand, with
Gallardo receiving a $50,000 fine and a 4-match suspension (1 from the
Bombonera Stadium for the first leg of the Libertadores final against
Boca Juniors and 3 subsequent touchline bans). River Plate would go on to win the
Copa Libertadores de América after further controversy. In the 2020 season Grêmio met their rivals Internacional at
Copa Libertadores for the first time in history. The first leg at the Arena do Grêmio ended in controversy as a fight broke out between Grêmio's
Pepê and Inter's
Moisés which quickly escalated into a full-brawl between the two teams and eight players — three of each team in the field and more two from the bench — were sent off. The match ended on a tie.
2021 crises, relegation and return The 2020 saw a decline on the performance of the team, while they were able to secure the
Campeonato Gaúcho, they finished in 6th in the Brasileirão which didn't guarantee their berth to the Libertadores for the first time since 2013, having to play at the
qualifying stages. The team later fail to qualify to the
2021 Copa Libertadores after losing to Ecuador's
Independiente del Valle. The defeat ended up causing the resignation of
Renato Portaluppi, who had worked at the club for almost five years. In 2021, Grêmio was elected the best club in South America of the decade, between 2011 and 2020, in a survey carried out by the
International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The ranking took into account the points scored by clubs in the organization's Club World Ranking each year. Portaluppi's replacement was
Tiago Nunes, with whom Grêmio qualified for the next phase of the
Copa Sudamericana and won the Campeonato Gaúcho in the final played against Internacional. However, the
COVID-19 pandemic caused various infections among the squad, which combined with a series of expensive yet supbar hirings, lack organization at the football department (previously heavily depedent on Renato Portaluppi's decisions), as well as other factors resulted in a weak performance at the
2021 Campeonato Brasileiro, getting just two points from seven games and dropping to bottom of the league table. Nunes was fired and replaced with
Luiz Felipe Scolari, in turn, also failed to lead the club out of the relegation zone and ended up leaving by mutual agreement after three months of work.
Vagner Mancini, then
America Mineiro coach, was hired for his place in October. Without achieving results, Grêmio finished the championship relegated for the third time to the
Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. After a weak start in the
2022 Campeonato Gaúcho, Mancini was fired and replaced with
Roger Machado, who led to the team to a fifth
Gauchão title in sequence after a victory against rival's Internacional in the semi-finals and the finals against
Ypiranga. In September Machado was replaced by a returning Renato Portaluppi. The
Série B campaign was enough to guarantee access to return to the Série A in 2023. playing for Grêmio in 2023 In December 2022, Grêmio announced that
Luis Suárez would be joining the club for a two-year contract. The signing drew worldwide attention to the club. Suárez made his debut on 17 January 2023 in a match against
São Luiz for the
2023 Recopa Gaúcha. Suárez scored a
hat-trick in a 4–1 win. With him on the squad, Grêmio was able to conquer the
2023 Campeonato Gaúcho, the sixth in row. In July, citing knee injuries and pain, Suárez later shortened his contract to only one year with the club. With Suárez, Grêmio achieved 2nd place in the
2023 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, qualifying the team for a spot on the
2024 Copa Libertadores. In 2024, Grêmio won
2024 Campeonato Gaúcho for the seventh time in a row, with
Renato Gaúcho as a manager. ==Symbols ==