Fluminense

Rio de Janeiro's football scene was barely a few years old when Fluminense joined its small circle of clubs, taking up a game still imported wholesale from England. The date was 21 July 1902.

The garnet, white and green shirt gave the club its lasting nickname, Tricolor, though supporters have also called it Flu, Fluzão and Pó de Arroz down the years.

The trophy that changed how the club is remembered arrived in 2023, when Fluminense won the Copa Libertadores for the first time. Four Brasileirão titles came in separate decades — 1970, 1984, 2010 and 2012 — and the Copa do Brasil followed in 2007. Closer to home, in the Campeonato Carioca, the club has been champion of Rio 33 times.

Castilho made 698 appearances in goal, a club record, while Valdo's 319 goals remain the highest tally by any player who has worn the shirt. Ademir, Rivelino and Gérson played in it too, and the academy at Xerém later sent Thiago Silva and Marcelo into the Brazil squad.

Nothing in Rio carries more weight than Fla-Flu, the derby against Flamengo known locally as the Derby of Millions; games against Vasco da Gama and Botafogo pull the same city into the same argument. Fluminense plays its biggest fixtures at the Maracanã, in front of up to 78,838 people, while the old ground at Laranjeiras, built for 8,000, still hosts training and youth football under the same colours.