Ceará

Rio Branco Football Club took the field in Fortaleza in 1914, and a year later, on its first anniversary, the club renamed itself Ceará Sporting Club and swapped its lilac shirts for black and white.

The Campeonato Cearense has gone to Vozão 47 times, most recently in 2024 and 2025, and that run in 2025 took the club past Fortaleza in the all-time count between them. A second, quieter rivalry runs against Ferroviário, known as the Clássico da Paz.

Beyond the state, the record thins. Ceará reached the final of the Copa do Brasil in 1994 and lost to Grêmio, and its best finish in the national championship came in 1964, third place. The Copa do Nordeste has been kinder: three titles, in 2015, 2020 and 2023, with two further final defeats along the way.

The club plays its biggest matches at the Arena Castelão, which holds 63,903; smaller fixtures move to the Presidente Vargas or to the old ground the fans call Vovozão, a nod to the club's own nickname, Vovô — the grandfather of Ceará football.