Cruzeiro U20

In 2012, Cruzeiro's under-20 side beat Internacional to a national title it had already won twice before.

The team sits inside the club's base categories alongside the Sub-17 and Sub-15 sides. It plays the Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20 and the Campeonato Mineiro Sub-20, and in 2024 did both at once: runner-up nationally, champion of Minas Gerais.

Tostão came through the academy in the 1960s and finished as the club's all-time leading scorer. Ronaldo arrived at sixteen and scored 44 goals in 47 matches.

Cruzeiro's own colours were not always blue. There is no comparable founding date for the under-20 side itself — it exists because the club's academy structure requires it, not because someone decided to start it.

The rivalry it inherits is fixed before a ball is kicked: Atlético Mineiro across the same city, and América Mineiro in a fixture still called, in the old shorthand, Coelho against Raposa — rabbit against fox.