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.
Back to the international stage and "Parmalat era" (1990s) era 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, 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. Once again in 1996, Palmeiras won the Copa Euro-America, this time on its second edition. During the competition, Palmeiras made one of the biggest wins of South American teams on European teams in history. Winning a strong Borussia Dortmund team 6–1. With a hat-trick from
Rivaldo. The runners-up this time was the Rio de Janeiro team,
Flamengo.
The debut champion (1998) In 1998, Palmeiras was one of 20 teams debuting in the first edition of one of South America's biggest competitions, the
Copa Mercosur. Palmeiras had a remarkable journey to victory in the 1998 Copa Mercosur. They began with an excellent group stage performance, winning all matches and advancing to the quarter-finals. In the quarterfinals, they faced
Boca Juniors and secured a 4–2 aggregate victory. The semi-finals they faced Paraguayan giants,
Olimpia. Winning them 3–0 on aggregate after crowd confusion in Paraguay. And in the final won Cruzeiro who were then the defending champions of the
Libertadores. The 20 participants were divided into five groups of 4 teams, where each one faced their zone rivals under a double-round, round-trip league system. The teams in first place in each group and the three best seconds reached the quarterfinals, where the direct elimination system came into play. Up to and including the semi-finals, with equal points, the team with the best goal difference obtained the classification; If the tie persisted, shots were taken from the penalty spot. In the final, if the two teams had the same number of points after the first two games, a tiebreaker match would be played to define the champion.
The first Libertadores (1999) Qualified for the 1999 Libertadores after winning the
1998 Copa do Brasil, Palmeiras fell into Group 3 of the competition, along with
Cerro Porteño and
Olimpia, both from Paraguay, and arch-rivals
Corinthians. Under the command of
Luiz Felipe Scolari, Alviverde had difficulty qualifying, only managing to qualify in the last round after beating Cerro Porteño in a comeback victory at
Palestra Itália. Thus, they managed to gain 10 points, which were enough to advance to the stage in second place in their group. It was in one of the group stage games against Corinthians, in fact, that the then reserve Marcos took over the team's starting role after Velloso's injury, a position he would have until the end of the competition. Palmeiras faced a challenging road to the finals, defeating the defending champions
Vasco da Gama in the round of 16 by 5–3 on aggregate, rival
Corinthians in the quarterfinals on penalties, and
1996 Copa Libertadores winners
River Plate in the semi-finals by 3–1 on aggregate. Palmeiras' base team, in addition to goalkeeper
Marcos, who replaced the injured archer
Velloso in the group stage of the competition, was made up of full-backs Arce (right) and Júnior (left); by defenders
Júnior Baiano and
Roque Júnior; midfielders
César Sampaio and Rogério; midfielders
Alex and
Zinho; and by attackers
Paulo Nunes and
Oséas. Strikers, Evair and Euller also played an important role in the victory, as well as defender Cléber and midfielder Galeano. The 1999 Libertadores final indicated that there would be an unprecedented champion, as neither Palmeiras nor
Deportivo Cali had won the tournament until then. The Palestrina team was runner-up in 1961 and 1968, while the Colombian team was runner-up in 1978. This was the first, and to this day only, time that Palmeiras and Deportivo Cali faced each other in the Libertadores. The final matches were against Colombian team
Deportivo Cali, the
1978 Copa Libertadores runners up. In the first leg in
Cali, Deportivo beat Palmeiras 1–0. In the second leg, at
Estádio Palestra Itália, Palmeiras beat Deportivo 2–1 and won the competition in a penalty shootout. In the quarter-finals of the tournament, Palmeiras eliminated arch-rivals compatriot
Corinthians. Betting on a more offensive scheme, Palmeiras went to
Colombia for the first match and played a very close game. The Brazilian team had difficulty creating opportunities in the first half, as two of the team's main escape valves, full-backs Arce and Júnior, were not playing well. While Palmeiras tried to create danger in set pieces, resisting pressure, Deportivo opened the scoring, at 42, after a play by
Candelo that Bonilla headed in, inside the small area, to open the scoring for the Colombian team. Fourteen days later, the two teams returned to the field for the decisive match. Counting on a packed
Palestra Itália and with the 32 thousand available tickets sold in eight hours, Palmeiras needed a two-goal victory to win the title, or at least win by one goal to take the dispute to penalties.
Penalties Without being able to count on three of the best takers in the squad (
Alex, Arce, and
Evair), Palmeiras opened the charges, which were in the north goal of Palestra Itália, with midfielder
Zinho, also one of the best takers. The midfielder took a strong shot, however, he exaggerated the height and kicked the ball against the crossbar, silencing the stadium. Soon after, goalkeeper Dudamel converted his shot, giving Deportivo Cali the lead. Palmeiras defenders
Júnior Baiano and
Roque Júnior also converted theirs, as did
Gaviria and Yepes, who maintained the advantage for the Colombians. Midfielder Rogério left everything the same in a shot from the right corner. The crowd started chanting "fora!" or "out!" to distract Deportivo's next striker, full-back Bedoya, and apparently it worked: the strong shot hit Marcos' left post foot, lightly grazed the goalkeeper and headed towards the touchline. Palmeiras was back in contention. In the last Palmeiras penalty,
Euller converted his kick by shooting into Dudamel's right corner, putting the Alviverde team in advantage for the first time and depending only on a mistake by Deportivo in the last Colombian penalty to be champion. Again the fans shouted "out!", and midfielder
Zapata, who had converted his penalty in extra time by shooting into the left corner, decided to reverse the side and looked for the right corner, but wasted the penalty by shooting out, to the right of the goal, finishing the dispute 4x3 and sealing Alviverde's conquest of the Libertadores for the first time in its history. This was the first Libertadores title for the
São Paulo team, which had previously, in 1961 and 1968, finished runner-up in the competition. With the victory, Palmeiras secured their second continental victory in history until then, after the 1998 Copa Mercosur. They also qualified for the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, in Tokyo, where they would face
Manchester United. The title made Palmeiras the seventh Brazilian club to win the Libertadores, and the third consecutive Brazilian title in the competition, an unprecedented event until then.
Intercontinental Cup (1999) After Palmeiras' triumph in the Libertadores final, the team would face the Champions League winner,
Manchester United. A
Roy Keane goal, in the 35th minute, came after a great play by Ryan Giggs on the left side. The Welshman reached the baseline, crossed high, Marcos left the goal badly, jumped to deflect the ball but didn't reach it, and the Irish midfielder arrived to touch the ball with his right foot into the back of the net and score. After the goal, Manchester United saw Palmeiras play, pressure and often try to score an equalizer. Alex, who had already missed a chance at the beginning of the game, was the name in focus. Palmeiras pressed a lot and had great chances with Oséas, Asprilla and Alex. The number 10 also had a goal disallowed in a move that has been contested to this day by Palmeiras fans. Palmeiras had
Alex as number 10, he was the team's great star. There were also important names such as
Marcos,
Arce,
César Sampaio and
Zinho, as well as
Paulo Nunes and
Asprilla – the later a reinforcement for the Intercontinental, who was not on the American champion team in the first half of the year. Led by Luiz Felipe Scolari, the team came into the contest strong. Palmeiras arrived strong, but they would have an opponent with prestige and strength on the other side. Manchester United came to the competition with almost the entire team complete, with the exception of goalkeeper
Peter Schmeichel, who left the club after winning the
Champions League. The starter was
Mark Bosnich and the Red Devils played with a full midfield, instead of the usual two attackers: Mark Bosnich;
Gary Neville,
Mikael Silvestre,
Jaap Stam and
Denis Irwin;
Nicky Butt,
Roy Keane,
Paul Scholes,
David Beckham and
Ryan Giggs;
Dwight Yorke, who was normally a starter, was on the bench.
Andy Cole was out injured. The coach, as he was for 26 years from 1986, was
Alex Ferguson.
Three international finals (1999–2000) In May,
Flamengo and Palmeiras had already faced each other in a knockout stage: In that year's Copa do Brasil, Palmeiras qualified, after losing the first match in Rio by 2 x 1, but winning the return match by 4 x 2. with 2 goals scored at the end of the game. After a semester in which they won the
Campeonato Carioca that year, Flamengo was coming off a bad second half, failing in the Campeonato Brasileiro. News reports at the time reported that the fans even stoned the team bus and protested against the team, especially against
Romário, who was also publicly fighting with the leaders. So much so that, on 14 November, one day after Flamengo's game against
Inter in Rio Grande do Sul for the "Seletiva para a Libertadores", the newspapers reported the 'end of the Romário era'. Baixinho was appointed as the organizer of a night out in
Caxias do Sul shortly after the match, days before, which culminated in Flamengo's disqualification for the second phase of that year's Campeonato Brasileiro. A few days later, the number 11 would sign with
Vasco. Palmeiras on the other hand, had a first semester where the team won the long-awaited Copa Libertadores, the results in the second semester were not good, and winning the Copa Mercosur would represent a calmer end of the year for the team. The first leg final was played on 16 December 1999, at the
Maracaná Stadium where Flamengo would beat Palmeiras 4 to 3. The first leg final was played on 20 December 1999, at the
Parque Antártica where both teams would tie 3 to 3, a result that allowed Flamengo to become champion, in addition to completing the Olympic round —because it had more points. Being the first Olympic round of the Mercosur Cup. It was the second time that two teams from the same country played in the Mercosur Cup final, which is why all the final matches were played in Brazil. In June 2000, Palmeiras reached another Libertadores final. The first game at La Bombonera, Buenos Aires ended in a 2–2 draw, with two goals from
Rodolfo Arruabarrena, for
Boca Juniors, and Pena and
Euller for Palmeiras. The return match also ended in a draw, only this time, without goals. The decision went to the penalty shootout, where Boca did better: taking advantage of four penalties, and with goalkeeper
Óscar Córdoba defending the charges from Palmeiras players
Asprilla and
Roque Júnior. Boca Juniors had gone twenty-two years without winning the continental title: their last cup had been in 1978. Palmeiras were trying to win their second title, having won their first title the previous year, over
Deportivo Cali. Another point that is often remembered are the refereeing errors, especially in the second leg, in
São Paulo. Palmeiras did not have two penalties awarded in their favor, and Boca had a legal goal disallowed for offside, irritating both teams. The two clubs would face each other again in the following edition, this time in the semi-final, in matches also marked by refereeing errors, where, again, Boca would prevail and win on penalties. With the title, the Buenos Aires team became three-time champions of the competition, and won the right to compete in the
2000 Intercontinental Cup, against Real Madrid, winner of the
1999-00 UEFA Champions League. In December of that same year, Palmeiras reached the final of the Mercosur again. Against another Rio de Janeiro team, Vasco da Gama. The first leg was played on 6 December 2000, at the
Estadio São Januário, where Vasco da Gama won 2–0 against Palmeiras. The final of the race was played on 12 December 2000 at Parque Antártica, where Palmeiras won 1–0 against Vasco da Gama. Because both teams won their respective parties, they were equal in points, which is why they had to play a third party to define the champion. The third party in the final was played on 20 December 2000, at Parque Antártica, where Vasco da Gama won 4–3 against Palmeiras – a chance to lose 3 to 0 —, a result that allowed Vasco da Gama to win becoming champion of the Mercosur Cup.
"Abel" era (2020s) Qualified directly for the group stage of the 2020 Libertadores after coming third in the
2019 Campeonato Brasileiro, Palmeiras was drawn into group B, along with
Bolívar, from
Bolivia,
Tigre, from
Argentina, and an opponent that would be determined in the preliminary stages. Palmeiras then disputed the 2021 Recopa Sudamericana against
Defensa y Justicia. The Argentine club's title came after two decisive games that ended in a 2–1 draw. The first of them, held in Argentina, featured a Brazilian victory. The second, held in Brazil, featured an Argentine victory, in a game that included extra time. With a 3–3 aggregate score, Defensa y Justicia's victory came in a penalty shootout, 4–3. It was the first time that the Copa Sudamericana champion won the tournament since 2015. Still in 2021, with the return of striker
Dudu to the team and with full-back
Piquerez and midfielder
Gustavo Scarpa added to the winning base of the 2020 edition. As they were the defending champions at the start of the tournament, Palmeiras qualified directly for the group stage of the Libertadores. It was drawn in group A, with
Defensa y Justicia, from Argentina,
Universitario, from Peru, and an opponent that would be defined after the preliminary stages. At the
Mineirão, Alviverde managed a 1–1 draw, and, due to the away goals rule, won the right to compete in another Libertadores final in its history, the second in a row. In the decision, Palmeiras won the match 2–1 in extra time, after normal time ended in a 1–1 draw. Palmeiras opened the scoring with
Raphael Veiga at the beginning of the game;
Flamengo equalized with
Gabriel Barbosa in the 27th minute of the second half. At the beginning of extra time, a mistake by Flamengo midfielder
Andreas Pereira in the defense field allowed Palmeiras center forward
Deyverson to steal the ball and score the tiebreaker, a result that Palmeiras maintained until the end of the match. It was the São Paulo club's third Libertadores win, after having won in 1999 and 2020; he joined
Santos,
São Paulo and
Grêmio as Brazil's greatest Libertadores champions. Furthermore, the "Palestrino" club became two consecutive champions, something that had not happened since the 2001 edition, when Boca Juniors did so. With the victory, Palmeiras guaranteed a place in three tournaments: the
2021 FIFA Club World Cup, the
2022 Recopa Sudamericana, and the
2022 Copa Libertadores da América, which the team had also disputed the season before. After the victory, some Palmeiras players celebrated by letting off steam, targeting Flamengo midfielder
Willian Arão, who had mentioned days before that Flamengo would be champions by winning 2–0. Coach Abel Ferreira became Alviverde's most successful coach in the 21st century. On Flamengo's side, the players and fans supported Andreas for the mistake he made, with coach
Renato Gaúcho blaming the deputy on himself; Renato ended up being fired by Flamengo two days after the final. The press considered that the red and black season was "frustrating" due to expectations created, even though they had won the Campeonato Carioca and the Supercopa do Brasil in the season. Palmeiras managed to win the 2021 Copa Libertadores da América, becoming three-time champions of the competition by defeating Flamengo in the final held in
Montevideo, Uruguay. With the title, the
São Paulo team became the best-performing Brazilian club in the history of the Libertadores, with a series of records ahead of compatriot clubs and the only team in history to have won the Copa Libertadores twice in the same year. after scoring in the
2021 FIFA Club World Cup final conquest The following year, less than a month after losing the
2021 FIFA Club World Cup final to
Chelsea and finishing runners-up in the world championship, Palmeiras won the unprecedented title of the
2022 Recopa Sudamericana, by defeating
Athletico Paranaense, champion of the 2021 Copa Sudamericana, in a very final played at
Allianz Parque, in the first international decision in the Big Green arena. Still in 2022, the "Alviverde" won the Brazilian Championship title for the
11th time. In the first decisive game for the
2022 Recopa Sudamericana, played in
Curitiba,
Athletico Paranaense opened the scoring in the 19th minute of the first half, with a goal scored by Uruguayan attacking midfielder
David Terans. Still in the first half, Palmeiras reached a draw with a goal scored by midfielder
Jaílson. In the second half, the red and black team reached the second goal with midfielder Marlos, but the alviverde drew 2–2 in extra time with a penalty goal taken by Raphael Veiga, leaving the title dispute open for the final in
São Paulo. In the second game, played in São Paulo, Palmeiras dominated the match from start to finish and won 2–0, with a free kick scored by midfielder
Zé Rafael and a title-winning goal scored by midfielder
Danilo. In the very first international final at Allianz Parque, the Alviverde team achieved yet another unprecedented title in its history, the fourth under the command of coach
Abel Ferreira. == International rivalries ==