Fortaleza U17

Fred Guedes had never won anything with Fortaleza before 14 December 2025, when his Sub-17 side beat Palmeiras on penalties, 5-4 after a goalless draw, to lift the Supercopa Capital Sub-17. It was his first title in charge, and it came against a club whose academy had, the year before, sent one of its own the other way: Gustavo Mancha arrived from Palmeiras in 2024, broke into the first team, and was later sold to Olympiacos.

The category only reached the national stage in 2021, when Fortaleza entered the Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-17 for the first time under Júnior Câmara, appointed that March. Titles at that level have not followed; what the team has won, repeatedly, is the Campeonato Cearense Sub-17, the state championship, taking it in 2000, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2020 and 2021 before adding 2024. Those finals tend to fall to one opponent: Ceará, and the derby between the two academies carries the same name as the senior fixture, Clássico-Rei.

Home matches are played at the Centro de Treinamento Ribamar Bezerra, a training base in Maracanaú rather than the 63,903-capacity Castelão where the first team plays — the ground holds closer to a thousand. The nickname follows down from the senior side too: Leão do Pici, after the district where the club is rooted, though the junior sides go by the diminutive Leãozinho.

Lucas Emanoel scored in a Cearense final for the age group; defender Kauã Rocha and goalkeepers Magrão and Eduardo Salvador have also come through the same pathway in recent seasons. None of it has yet translated into a run at the national Sub-17 titles, where Fortaleza's record so far is participation rather than silverware.