In Brazilian football, G-12 (Big Twelve) refers to a group of 12 clubs: Atlético Mineiro, Botafogo, Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Flamengo, Fluminense, Grêmio, Internacional, Palmeiras, Santos, São Paulo, and Vasco da Gama. They are considered the most popular and successful sides in Brazilian football, having won all but six editions of the Brasileirão between them since the tournament's inception.
Their status as major clubs in Brazilian football stems from their historical performances at their respective state leagues. For a long time, there were no national tournaments in Brazil (with the first edition of the Brasileirão being only held in 1937 and then officially in 1959). Competition between teams from different states was sparse (with the Torneio Rio-São Paulo, held irregularly between 1933 and 1966 and then from 1993 to 2002, being the most notable tournament of this nature); thus, these clubs first earned their distinguished reputation for being dominant within state borders.
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This regional success translated into national and international glory. The Big Twelve clubs have dominated the Brasileirão and the Copa do Brasil and put up great performances at the Copa Libertadores and the Club World Cup (and other equivalent world tournaments).
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The Big Twelve are also the most supported clubs in Brazil, enjoying nationwide popularity. Even away from state borders, it is not hard to find supporters of Big Twelve clubs.,[1] often surpassing even local clubs.
| Club | Supporters |
|---|---|
| Flamengo | 34 million |
| Corinthians | 27.4 million |
| São Paulo | 26.8 million |
| Palmeiras | 14.6 million |
| Vasco da Gama | 9.4 million |
| Cruzeiro | 9.3 million |
| Grêmio | 8.4 million |
| Internacional | 6.3 million |
| Santos | 6.3 million |
| Atlético Mineiro | 5.2 million |
| Fluminense | 2.1 million |
| Botafogo | 2.1 million |
| Club | Player | Years | Goals | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlético Mineiro | Reinaldo | 1973–1985 | 255 | [4] |
| Botafogo | Quarentinha | 1954–1964 | 313 | [5] |
| Corinthians | Cláudio | 1945–1957 | 305 | [6] |
| Cruzeiro | Tostão | 1963–1972 | 249 | [7] |
| Flamengo | Zico | 1974–1983 | 509 | [8] |
| Fluminense | Waldo | 1954–1961 | 319 | [9] |
| Grêmio | Alcindo | 1964–1971 | 230 | [10] |
| Internacional | Carlitos | 1938–1951 | 485 | [11] |
| Palmeiras | Heitor | 1916–1931 | 315 | [12] |
| Santos | Pelé | 1956–1974 | 1091 | [13][14] |
| São Paulo | Serginho | 1973–1982 | 250 | [15] |
| Vasco da Gama | Roberto Dinamite | 1971–1993 | 708 | [16] |
The validity of the concept of a Big Twelve is often a topic of debate.[17][18][19] It is at times portrayed as a rigid construct that excludes teams that merit a place in this group and at other times it is argued to be an outdated definition that includes clubs whose place is no longer merited.
Bahia hails from Salvador, Bahia and is one of the two major clubs from the Campeonato Baiano (the other being Vitória). It is the only non-Big Twelve club to have two Brasileirão titles to its name (tied with Grêmio, Botafogo and Atlético Mineiro), notably beating Pelé and Os Santásticos in the final of the 1959 edition. In terms of fanbase size, its supporters compete with those of Fluminense and Botafogo and are ahead of any non-Big Twelve ones.[2] It is, in fact, one of the Clube dos 13's founding members alongside the Big Twelve. Prior to its first relegation in 1997, Bahia was considered one of the biggest clubs in Brazil. However, its Brasileirão campaigns have been generally unimpressive since the 1980s, and the club spent much of the 2000s outside the first division.
Bahia was relegated in 1997 to the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie B and only came back to the top tier of Brazilian football in 2000 with a political maneuver, after CBF's withdrawal from organizing the championship of that year due to legal problems and handing it to Clube dos 13 because the club failed in achieving the promotion to Serie A in 1998 and 1999. Bahia was again relegated to Serie B in 2003 and relegated to Serie C in 2005, the low point in the history of the club. The team disputed two seasons of Serie C until achieved its first promotion in history in 2007 to Serie B, and in 2010 the team was promoted for the first time to the Brasileirão. Bahia was relegated in 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, but this time they only stayed two seasons out of Série A, making their comeback in the 2017 edition
The club also lags behind Big Twelve clubs in financial assets.[20][21]
From Curitiba one of the main clubs in the city are Coritiba Foot Ball Club and Club Athletico Paranaense and the league this state is the Campeonato Paranaense. Athletico Paranaense is often regarded as one of the best-run clubs in Brazil,[22] with financial results that rival those of the Big Twelve.[20][21] The club has won the Brasileirão once, in 2001, and its best campaigns at the Copa Libertadores were a runner-up showing in 2005 and 2022. However, the club has a very poor pre-1990s record at the Brasileirão and its fanbase is relatively small compared to Big Twelve clubs and very much contained within Paraná's borders.[1] Coritiba won one title of Brasileirão, conquered in 1985 and it was the first club of Paraná to participate Copa Libertadores, in 1986, as well as the first club to carry an expression title in its state. Athletico Paranaense also won the titles of Copa do Brasil, which Botafogo did not win, and also Copa Sudamericana (or another of its predecessors), which Fluminense, Grêmio, Cruzeiro and Corinthians did not win.
Like the Big Twelve and Bahia, Coritiba and Athletico Paranaense, the teams Guarani, Portuguesa, Goiás, Sport and Vitória were also members of the Clube dos 13, that were composed by the most important and traditional on that period.[23] But each one of them had issues after that.
Guarani, the 1978 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion [24] and Sport Club do Recife and the 1987 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion, are the other Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champions outside the Big Twelve. They both struggle with financial problems, and Sport has the worst financial situation among all clubs that play in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A this year.[25]
Goiás and Vitória spent mostly of the previous seasons on the second division, but achieved good things in the last years. Goiás was the 2010 Copa Sudamericana runner-up,[26] and Vitoria was the 1993 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and 2010 Copa do Brasil runner-up.[27]
After the "Héverton Case", that made the team has been relegated to the second division, the Portuguesa was relegated more two times straight, and now do not compete for any national championship, been on Campeonato Paulista Série A2.[28]
During the early 2000s, São Caetano got noticed in both national and international media after being a finalist of 2002 Copa Libertadores, the most important tournament in South America. They lost to Olimpia of Paraguay on penalties.
After the Red Bull took over the control of the 1991 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up, Clube Atlético Bragantino, and changed its name to Red Bull Bragantino. The club claims that it will be one of Brazil's best clubs in the future.[29][30]
It is often argued that there is too big a gap even between the Big Twelve clubs in overall greatness and importance. For instance São Paulo being the most successful club internationally having won the world title three times, its status in South America as well as having the biggest private stadium and being one of only two teams that have never been relegated, is sometimes perceived as in a league of its own, although not having as much success lately. There are those who claim the biggest fan base should grant them special status regardless of their performances on the pitch. Flamengo and Corinthians like to claim they are the two biggest clubs in Brazil on those grounds. On the other hand Palmeiras supporters have also claimed to be Brazilian Football Greatest Club given their slight greater national success, although failing to reproduce it on the big stage, being the only one club from São Paulo State not to have won the World Title despite having won the Libertadores Cup 3 times. In the same way Corinthians sometimes is considered the lesser of the São Paulo State clubs given the fact it won the Libertadores Cup only once while São Paulo, Palmeiras and Santos have won it three times each.
