This is Club World Cup participant Palmeiras
Palmeiras Sao Paulo is one of the biggest soccer clubs in Brazil—with 12 titles, it is even the country’s record champion. At the 2025 Club World Cup, Palmeiras will play in Group F against Borussia Dortmund, among others.
This is Palmeiras Sao Paulo
Palmeiras Sao Paulo: History
The history of the Palmeiras Sao Paulo football club goes back over 100 years.
The club was originally founded on August 26, 1914, by Italian immigrants as “Società Palestra Italia.” ‘Palestra’ (from the ancient Greek palaistra, meaning “wrestling school”) describes a gymnasium in Italian. The club’s colors were also the Italian national colors: red, white, and green.
Due to Brazil’s involvement in World War II, the use of terms associated with enemy nations was banned in 1942, and the club had to change its name.
It was agreed to rename the club “Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras” in memory of the historic football club Associação Atlética das Palmeiras (1902–1929), where some of the Palestra players had been active.
As SE Palmeiras, the club became a giant in Brazilian soccer and is the country’s record champion.
When the Italian Parmalat Group, which later went bankrupt, withdrew as Palmeiras’ sponsor in 2000, the club, which had been Brazil’s richest in the 1990s, also ran into financial difficulties.
However, 2002 saw the worst season in the club’s history and Palmeiras was relegated to the second division. After immediately regaining promotion to the top flight and re-establishing itself there, the club suffered its second relegation in its history in 2012.
But the green and white giant has long since recovered from that too.
The greatest successes
Palmeiras Sao Paulo is one of the most successful soccer clubs in Brazil.
Palmeiras has won the Brazilian championship 12 times, making it the country’s record champion.
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras won its first championship title in 1960 in the Taca Brasil cup competition, which was also the first national soccer competition in Brazil.
In 1967, Palmeiras won the Brazilian championship twice. Once in the “Taca Brasil” and once in the “Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa,” which was held four times from 1967 to 1970 in parallel with the “Taca Brasil.” Both competitions were precursors to today’s Serie A championship.
Palmeiras went on to win the Campeonato Brasileiro eight times from the 1970s onwards, most recently in 2023.
In addition to the twelve championship triumphs, there are also two titles in Serie B – after being relegated in 2002 and 2012, the club returned as second division champions in each of the following years. The Green and Whites have also won the cup four times (1998, 2012, 2015, 2020).
Palmeiras has also made a name for itself internationally in South America. The green and whites have won the Copa Libertadores – the South American equivalent of the European Champions League – three times so far: in 1999, 2020, and 2021.
Palmeiras squad: These are the top stars
The total value of the Palmeiras squad is estimated at just over 230 million euros.
The biggest stars in the green and white team play in the offense. The 18-year-old super talent Estevao, with a market value of 55 million euros, plays as a right winger, while center forward Vitor Roque (20 years old/market value: 20 million euros) is responsible for scoring goals in the middle.
Felipe Anderson is also well known in Europe. The 32-year-old Brazilian played in Europe for a long time, including at West Ham and most recently for three years at Lazio Rome.
Other stars in the Palmeiras squad include: Open midfielder Raphael Veiga (29/Brazil/market value: €17 million), the two wingers Facundo Torres (25/Uruguay/market value: €14 million) and Paulinho (24/Brazil/market value: €17 million), as well as Colombian Richard Ríos (25/€15 million), who pulls the strings in central midfield.
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This is head coach Abdel Ferreira
The coach of Palmeiras Sao Paulo is Abel Ferreira. The 46-year-old Portuguese has been in office since November 2020 and has led the club to two league titles and one Copa Libertadores triumph during that time. This makes Ferreira the most successful coach in Palmeiras’ club history.
Abdel Ferreira was himself an active professional player before becoming a coach. He played for FC Penafiel, Vitória Guimarães, Sporting Braga and, most recently, Sporting Lisbon until 2011.
He immediately took up coaching, training several youth teams at Sporting Lisbon from 2011 to 2017. From 2017 to 2019, he was head coach at Sporting Braga, and in the 2019/2020 season he was under contract with PAOK Saloniki.
In October 2020, he accepted the offer from Palmeiras.
The stadium
The home stadium of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras has been the club’s own multifunctional arena called Allianz Parque since 2014. The stadium has a capacity of around 43,600 spectators.
In April 2013, the insurance company Allianz SE became the arena’s title sponsor. In an online vote, the three suggestions “Allianz 360°,” “Allianz Parque,” and “Allianz Center” were put to the vote as stadium names. The contract with Allianz runs for 20 years.
Before that, Palmeiras played for almost 100 years, from 1917 to 2010, in the venerable “Estádio Palestra Itália” (capacity: 28,600), also known in Brazil as “Parque Antárctica.” The stadium was demolished in 2010 to make way for the new arena.
