Cruzeiro E.C.

History

Cruzeiro's history is traced back to the Italian community living in Belo Horizonte, a city where already some Italian immigrants lived and their desire to set up a football club. Similar to the Italians of São Paulo (who founded Palestra Itália, now known as Palmeiras) the people of Belo Horizonte wanted the Italian colonies in Minas Gerais to have its own club as well.

In the sporting goods and footwear Augustine Ranieri's factory, located on the street of Caetés, it was decided the foundation of the club should tackle the three major capital: Atlético Mineiro, América-MG and Yale. Was born at that moment, the Società Sportiva Palestra Italia, established on 2 January 1921.

The meeting was attended by 95 founders present the shield and uniform that made reference to the Italian colors, and whose SSPI description would be recorded in the center shell. Another decision was that only members of the Italian colony could wear the shirt. Aurelio Noce was elected the first President.

The Palestra Italia emerged as the representative of the Italian colony. And is characterized as a team of Italian descent, Palestra also stood out by having elements of the Belo Horizonte working class, unlike Atlético and América, who had their consisting squad of college students coming from influential and wealthy families of the city.

The idea of the club being created took a big step when Yale, a sports team from the city, went through an administrative crisis. When some players left Yale over a dispute (Yale, which itself had connections to the Italian community), some went on to found the all Italian, Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Itália of Belo Horizonte. Until 1925 the club would only allow Italian men to participate, despite other teams in the nation accepting people of all skin colors and ethnicities.

Palestra debuted in the Prado Mineiro Stadium with a 2–0 win in a friendly on 3 April 1921, against a combination from Nova Lima. The Nova Lima team united players from two teams from the city: Villa Nova, and Palmeiras, another team form Nova Lima. However, the first official match of Palestra was in a 3–0 win over future archrivals Clube Atlético Mineiro.

Symbols

Colors

When Cruzeiro was still known as Palestra Italia, the home shirt colour was green. The first home kit was an improvised dark green shirt, with white shorts and green stockings. Cruzeiro used this kit in their first professional game on 3 April 1921, in the Prado Mineiro Stadium, with a 2–0 win over the Villa Nova/Palmeiras combined team, of Nova Lima. In 1928 the shirt became a lighter tone of green, with a white neck design and red cuffs. The shorts continued to be white, but the green stockings now had red and white details, similar to that of the Italian flag. This particular uniform was used up until 1940. The light green color of the shirt would later give the team the nickname "periquito", Portuguese for parakeet. In 1940 there was a big change to the shirt. The shirt began to feature horizontal stripes, with the club crest in the center. This was the shirt used to win the 1940 Campeonato da Cidade – now known as the Campeonto Mineiro – after the club had been unable to win the tournament for ten years. The club also began to be called "tricolor" instead of "periquito".

In 1942 Cruzeiro played one game under the name Ypiranga, and for this game a blue shirt with a central horizontal stripe was used. In 1943 Cruzeiro played its first game under its current name. The shirt used then was an all blue shirt with a large white v-neck (scapular) design. The shorts and stockings were white. In 1950, due to bad stadium lighting, Cruzeiro began to use an all-white shirt during night games. The shirt, which featured blue details and blue shorts and white stockings, was used for nine years. In 1956, Cruzeiro used, for a short while, a new shirt that was made up of white and blue horizontal stripes. The uniform was not used in many games. There was a change to the shirt in 1959; the shirt became all blue, a design that would influence later shirts. In the 1959 shirt, instead of using its normal crest Cruzeiro simply used the five stars, in the crest, loose on the shirt. The shirt made its debut in the Estádio dos Tecelões, in a friendly match against Renascença, on 19 September.

In 1984 Cruzeiro had the first ever company logo on its shirt; it was the shirt manufacturer's logo, which was Topper. In the same year Cruzeiro had its first shirt sponsor, Medradao. Medradao was only used on the away shirts

Crest

The first Palestra Itália crest was a rhombus whose top half was red and bottom half was green (both colors of the Italian flag). In the center of the crest was a white circle with the letters P and I inside it. The following year, 1922, the club's crest maintained its rhombus shape, but was now completely white, with the letter P, S and I, inscribed within it in green. In 1923, the crest lost its rhombus shape and instead just had the green letters S, P and I. From 1928 to 1939 the crest was identical to the first crest in 1921. Just one year later the crest became a little different: the top half was green and the bottom half was red, similar to the crests from 1921 and 1929–1939, but instead of green letters in its center, it now had the letters S, P and I in yellow.

The crest introduced in 1940 would be the last for Palestra, because the club would soon become Cruzeiro. Cruzeiro's first crest was introduced in 1950 and was very simple: a blue circle, with a white border, inside of which were five white stars, positioned to look like the Southern Cross. This first crest was used for over nine years, until 1959. In 1959 the crest changed, now with a white border around the crest with the words "-CRUZEIRO ESPORTE CLUBE-BELO HORIZONTE" in blue. This version of the crest was used until 1996, making it the longest-used crest by Cruzeiro. In the same year, Cruzeiro removed BELO HORIZONTE from the crest; this format was used until 2005. In 2006 to honor its successful 2003 season, a crown was added on top of the crest, to symbolize the triple crown.

Cruzeiro has not always used its official crest on its shirt. In 1959, instead of using its crest, the club opted to simply put the five stars from the Southern Cross on its shirt. This was done until 2000, when the actual crest was again used. In 2002 and in part of 2003 the loose stars were used. Part way through 2003 a new shirt that contained the actual crest was introduced, but instead of just using the regular crest the shirt featured two Copa Libertadores trophies on top of the crest. In 2004 a similar design was used, but now featured a crown, symbolic of the Triple Crown on top of the two trophies. Since 2007 the club has used the "loose stars" design on home shirts. None of these designs actually became the official club crest.

Anthem

The club's anthem, Hino ao Campeão, was written by Jadir Ambrósio in 1966, in homage to the team of his heart. He never meant for it to become the official anthem, but when fans started hearing it they liked it enough to adapt it as the new anthem.

Mascot

Cartoonist Fernando Pieruccetti, more popularly known as "Mangabeira", created the club's mascot, a raposa (Portuguese for fox) in the 1940s, as he did for other football clubs from Minas Gerais state league. Mangabeira took inspiration from the club's ex-president, Mario Grosso. "He was a director who let no one trick him. He was sly, agile, intelligent and skillful like a fox." In the 2000s, Cruzeiro has made the Raposão (Big Fox) its biggest mascot, appearing at all home games and cheering with the crowd while wearing the club's colors.

In 2010, Raposão won Rede Globo's Competição de Mascotes (Mascot Competition), held in their Sunday sports show Esporte Espetacular. The program united 20 mascots from the biggest Brazilian teams and had them competing in series of challenges. Raposão won all of the events and was crowned as Brazil's Best Mascot.

In 2010, Cruzeiro introduced a "junior mascot", named "Raposinho" (Little Fox), a smaller version of "Raposão".

Current squad

As of 12 September 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Youth team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

First-team staff

Source:

Records and statistics

Most appearances

Roberto Perfumo, with 138 matches, was the non-Brazilian with the most appearances for the club, this was recently changed however as Ariel Cabral was awarded this record with 200 appearances for the club.

The player with the most appearances for Cruzeiro is Fábio with a stunning record of 800 appearances, having been with the team since 2005, beating former midfielder Zé Carlos, with 619 appearances, between 1965 and 1977. In third place on that list is 1971's Bola de Ouro Winner, "The Prince" Dirceu Lopes, while the fourth place belongs to former Brazilian international and 1970 FIFA World Cup champion Wilson Piazza. The fifth overall player, and second goalkeeper with the most appearances for Cruzeiro is the notorious Raul Plassman, who played a total of 557 games with the team. The non-Brazilian with the most appearances for the club is the Argentine Roberto Perfumo who made 138 appearances for the club between 1971 and 1974.

Top goalscorers

Brazilian hall-of-famer and 1970 FIFA World Cup winner Tostão has scored the most goals for Cruzeiro, 249 between 1963 and 1972, having appeared on 378 matches for Cruzeiro (12th overall). He beats Dirceu Lopes by 25 goals on that list, which also has old-timer Niginho (207 goals) closing the top 3, being the only ones with over 200 goals for Cruzeiro. Ninão holds the record for goals scored in a single match: 10 in Cruzeiro's 14–0 win over Alves Nogueira during Campeonato da Cidade on 17 June 1928. Nelinho holds the record for most goals scored from penalties: 38; and the record for goals scored from fouls: 42. Walter Montillo's 39 goals make him the non-Brazilian with the most goals for Cruzeiro, a record that would belong to Bolivia national football team vice-captain and striker Marcelo Moreno with 48 goals or Spanish 1930's striker Fernando Carazo, with 44 goals, had they not become Brazilian nationals.

Honours

Official tournaments

s shared record

Others tournaments

Torneio Quadrangular (1): 1966

Caracas Triangular Trophy (2): 1970, 1977

October 11th Tournament (1): 1971

Lunar New Year Cup (1): 1972

Miller Cup (2): 1972, 1973

Independence Cup (1): 1978

Trofeo Cidade de Vigo (1): 1978

Lagos Tournament (1): 1980

Trofeo Ciudad de Valladolid (1): 1982

Trofeo Ciudad de Santander (1): 1982

Zaragoza Tournament (1): 1982

Torneio 20 anos do Estádio Mineirão (1): 1985

Trofeo Reyno de Navarra (1): 1986

Trofeo Ciudad de Alicante (1): 1986

Tokyo Dome Cup (2): 1994, 1994

Emperor's Cup (1): 1996

Guadalajara International Tournament (1): 2001

Campeonato Internacional de Verano (1): 2009

Torneio Dante Alighieri (1): 1921

Torneio Imprensa (1): 1927

Torneio Otacílio Negrão de Lima (1): 1936

Torneio Minotti Mucelli (1): 1952

Runners-up

Intercontinental Cup (2): 1976, 1997

Copa Libertadores (2): 1977, 2009

Copa Sudamericana (1): 2024

Recopa Sudamericana (2): 1992, 1993

Supercopa Sudamericana (2): 1988, 1996

Copa Mercosur (1): 1998

Copa Master de Supercopa (1): 1992

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (5): 1969, 1974, 1975, 1998, 2010

Copa do Brasil (2): 1998, 2014

Copa dos Campeões (1): 2002

Seletiva Libertadores (1): 1999

Copa Sul-Minas (1): 2000

Campeonato Mineiro (28): 1922, 1924, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1942, 1954, 1962, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017, 2022, 2024

Taça Minas Gerais (5): 1975, 1976, 1979, 1986, 1987

Youth team

Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20 (1): 2017

Copa do Brasil Sub-20 (1): 2023

Supercopa do Brasil Sub-20 (1): 2017

Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior (2): 2007, 2026

Taça Belo Horizonte de Juniores (5): 1985, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2004

Copa Rio Grande do Sul de Futebol Sub-20 (3): 2007, 2010, 2012

Copa Santiago de Futebol Juvenil (2): 2002, 2004

Copa Macaé de Juvenis (2): 2007, 2008

Copa Votorantim Sub-15 (3): 2002, 2005, 2006

Trebles and doubles

Trebles

– Domestic Triple Crown

State, Cup and League: 2003¹

Doubles

– Domestic Double

State and League: 1966

State and Cup: 1996

State and League: 2014

State and Cup: 2018

– Continental Double

State and Supercopa Sudamericana: 1992

State and Copa Libertadores: 1997

Grounds and facilities

Cruzeiro's first stadium was the Estádio do Prado Mineiro, which belonged to the Federação Mineira de Futebol (FMF). The club's first game at the stadium was 2–0 win over a Villa Nova/Palmeiras combine team from Nova Lima on 3 April 1921. Cruzeiro would use the stadium until 1923 when the club built its own stadium, Estádio do Barro Preto. On 23 July 1923, Cruzeiro debuted at the stadium in a 2–2 tie with Flamengo. In 1945, the stadium went through renovations and would become at that time the largest stadium in the state with a capacity of 15,000 and later on would become known as Estádio Juscelino Kubitscheck (or Estádio JK). Cruzeiro would use the stadium until 1965, when the Mineirão was opened. In 1983, the stadium was torn down and one of the club's social clubs (Sede Campestre) was built there.

Since 1965, Cruzeiro play their home games at Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto, often referred to as just Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, MG. Cruzeiro shares the stadium with rivals Atlético Mineiro. The stadium does not belong to Cruzeiro, rather it belongs to the state of Minas Gerais (through a land grant from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) and is administrated by Minas Arena, a private company, on lease from the state since 2013. The stadium, which was built in 1963, had an original capacity of about 130,000, but over the years that capacity has been reduced, and currently it seats 64,800. Named after former Minas Gerais governor José de Magalhães Pinto, it took over 4,000 workers to build the stadium. The period after the stadium's inauguration is often called Era Mineirão ("Mineirão Era"), which saw Cruzeiro gain national and international prominence. Cruzeiro also holds the attendance record at the stadium, when 132,834 spectators watched Cruzeiro beat Villa Nova in the 1997 Campeonato Mineiro final.

Cruzeiro have had plans to build a new stadium, especially under president Alvimar de Oliveira Costa's tenure. However, the state of Minas asked Cruzeiro to stay at the stadium, and after president Zezé Perrella came to the presidency in 2009, plans for a new stadium virtually disappeared.

The Mineirão was selected as a host stadium for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, with renovations beginning on 25 June 2010, and projected to be completed by December 2012. After the stadiums closing, Cruzeiro began playing home games at the Arena do Jacaré and Ipatingão stadiums, both outside the city of Belo Horizonte. Independência stadium is also being renovated and Cruzeiro will start playing homes games there in 2011 until the Mineirão is ready in 2012.

Administration and finances

Cruzeiro used to be a nonprofit organization, where the real owner are sócios (literally, "partners") or members (who pay an annual fee), in return, sócios receive benefits from the club, such as access to club's properties and tickets, as well as a right to vote for the next club officials. This bylaw lasted from the club's foundation in 1921 until late 2021, when Wagner Pires de Sá's run as club president led to the club to declare bankruptcy.

Wagner Pires de Sá's run as club president was filled with corruption. This led Cruzeiro to stop paying its players, leading to the club's first relegation in 2019. Over the next two years, Cruzeiro played the second division while still under the sócios program. This changed in December 2021, when the former footballer Ronaldo, who started his professional career in Cruzeiro, announced he would be the owner of Cruzeiro's football department. In April 2024, Ronaldo sold his shareholding to Fan and Billionaire Pedro Lourenço. In an operation whose values revolve around R$ 600 million (US$100 million) for 90% of SAF.