São Paulo

São_Paulo_FC

São Paulo Futebol Clube (Brazilian Portuguese: [sɐ̃w ˈpawlu futʃiˈbɔw ˈklubi] ), more commonly referred to as simply São Paulo, is a professional football club in the affluent Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo's premier state league and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top tier of Brazilian football. Despite being primarily a football club, São Paulo competes in a wide variety of sports. Its home ground is the multipurpose 72,039-seater MorumBIS Stadium, the biggest private-owned field in Brazil. São Paulo is Brazil’s biggest worldwide champion and also one of the only two clubs that have never been relegated from the top division, the other being Flamengo.

Founded in 1930 as merge between Club Athletico Paulistano and Associação Atlética das Palmeiras, the club has used its traditional home kit of a white shirt with two horizontal stripes (one red and one black), white shorts, and white socks since its inception, the collor choice was made in honour of its parent-clubs primary collors, and also to represent the collors of the state of São Paulo. Although its main affiliation is with the state and city where it was founded, São Paulo is a national team and the third best-supported club in Brazil, with over 22 million supporters, covering around 9.9% of its population. Their supporters are called São-paulinos and are often nicknamed Torcida que conduz (Supporters who lead), due to their importance in maintaining São Paulo’s long lasting relevance in South America’s football. São Paulo ranked fifth in Brazil with a market value of R$ 2.214 billion in 2023.

Consistently being ranked amongst South America’s biggest football clubs, São Paulo is Brazil’s most international team, winning a total of 12 top-tier international competitions in its history, making it the most successful Brazilian club overseas. The club is the only Brazilian team with three worldwide titles, 2 Intercontinental Cup and 1 FIFA Club World Cup. Making São Paulo the only domestic club to win on all participations, with a 100% success rate, São Paulo is the only club that has never lost a worldwide top-tier title, while also being the only club in South America with a Intercontinental Cup title to win a FIFA Club World Cup title. They are the only club in the country to win all available titles, earning the nickname “Champions of Everything”, an honour achieved after winning the 2024 Supercopa do Brasil.

São Paulo is one of the most successful teams in Brazil with 56 official titles, that includes 24 state titles, 12 inter-state titles, 6 Campeonato Brasileiro titles, 1 Copa do Brasil title, 1 Supercopa do Brasil title, 3 Copa Libertadores titles, 1 Copa Sudamericana, 1 Supercopa Libertadores, 1 Copa CONMEBOL, 1 Copa Masters CONMEBOL, 2 Recopa Sudamericanas, 2 Intercontinental Cup and 1 FIFA Club World Cup.

São Paulo was honored with a Triple Crown two times in its history, in 1992 and 2005, after winning three competitions in the same year. The club is also the first of its kind in the country to win an International Quadruple Crown, feat achieved in 1993 after winning four international titles in the same year, Supercopa Libertadores, Recopa Sudamericana, Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup, as of 2024, São Paulo remais the only club in the country with such a feat.

Being the youngest and newest addition to Brazil’s pantheon of leading clubs, with only 94 years, São Paulo is the domestic team with the most amount of accolades in the least amount of time, with a variation of 11 different competitions won, the most amongst Brazilian clubs. São Paulo was also an inaugural member of the Clube dos 13, a group of Brazil's leading football clubs. The club's most consistent spell of success came in the 1990s when it won two state titles, one national championship, two Copa Libertadores, two Recopa Sudamericanas, two Intercontinental Cups, one Supercopa Sudamericana, one Copa CONMEBOL and one Copa Masters CONMEBOL.

São Paulo was coached by some of the best professionals in Brazil, including Muricy Ramalho, Paulo Autuori and Telê Santana, considered the best head coach in Brazilian football history and responsible for winning 2 Copa Libertadores and 2 Intercontinental Cup in a row along with several national and international titles throughout the 1990s, in honour of that, a statue of Telê was raised in MorumBIS Stadium.

Its youth system is considered one of the best in South America, with a multi-champion talent league, the club has produced many well-known players, including Rogério Ceni, the best goalkeeper in the country, Casemiro, Lucas Moura, Éder Militão, Antony, Gabriel Sara, Lucas Beraldo, Pablo Maia, Fábio Santos, Denílson, Júlio Baptista, Cafu and Kaká, the last Brazilian to win the Ballon d'Or. Another important players include: Raí, Diego Lugano, Luis Fabiano, Zetti, Pedro Rocha, Waldir Peres, Aloísio Chulapa, Serginho Chulapa, Dagoberto, Hernanes, Leônidas and Arthur Friedenreich. São Paulo's current players include: James Rodríguez, Lucas Moura, Jonathan Calleri, Rafinha, Giuliano Galoppo, Rodrigo Nestor and Luiz Gustavo.

All five FIFA World Cups won by Brazil contained at least one São Paulo player, an honour shared with cross-city rivals Palmeiras.