In Brazilian football, theBig Twelve (Portuguese:OsDoze Grandes) refers to a group of 12 clubs:Atlético Mineiro,Botafogo,Corinthians,Cruzeiro,Flamengo,Fluminense,Grêmio,Internacional,Palmeiras,Santos,São Paulo, andVasco da Gama. They are considered the most popular and successful sides in Brazilian football, having won all but six editions of theCampeonato Brasileiro Série A between them since the tournament's inception.

Club City State Founded Stadium Capacity Clube Atlético Mineiro Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais 1908 Arena MRV 47,465 Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro 1894 (1904 in Football) Nilton Santos 44,661 Sport Club Corinthians Paulista São Paulo São Paulo 1910 Arena Corinthians 49,205 Cruzeiro Esporte Clube Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais 1921 Mineirão 61,846 Clube de Regatas do Flamengo Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro 1895 (1912 in Football) Maracanã 78,838 Fluminense Football Club Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro 1902 Maracanã 78,838 Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense Porto Alegre Rio Grande do Sul 1903 Arena do Grêmio 55,662 Sport Club Internacional Porto Alegre Rio Grande do Sul 1909 Beira-Rio 50,128 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras São Paulo São Paulo 1914 Allianz Parque 43,713 Santos Futebol Clube Santos São Paulo 1912 Vila Belmiro 16,068 São Paulo Futebol Clube São Paulo São Paulo 1930 Morumbi 72,039 Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro 1898 (1915 in Football) São Januário 21,880

Porto Alegre Santos São Paulo Rio de Janeiro Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais (state) Belo Horizonte (city) -Atlético Mineiro -Cruzeiro Rio de Janeiro (state) Rio de Janeiro (city) -Botafogo -Flamengo -Fluminense -Vasco da Gama São Paulo (state) São Paulo (city) -Corinthians -Palmeiras -São Paulo Santos (city) -Santos Rio Grande do Sul (state) Porto Alegre (city) -Grêmio -Internacional class=notpageimage| Big Twelve clubs' locations

Their status as major clubs in Brazilian football stems from their historical performances at their respectivestate leagues. For a long time, there were no national tournaments in Brazil (with the first edition of theBrasileirão being only held in 1937 and then officially in 1959). Competition between teams from different states was sparse (with theTorneio 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.

As of 2024

This regional success translated into national and international glory. The Big Twelve clubs have dominated theBrasileirão and theCopa do Brasil and put up great performances at theCopa Libertadores and theFIFA Club World Cup (and other equivalent world tournaments).

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.

The validity of the concept of a Big Twelve is often a topic of debate.^[16][17][18] It is at times portrayed as arigid 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 fromSalvador,Bahia and is one of the two major clubs from theCampeonato Baiano (the other beingVitória). It is the only non-Big Twelve club to have twoBrasileirão titles to its name (tied withGrêmio), notably beatingPelé andOs Santásticos in the final of the1959 edition. In terms of fanbase size, its supporters compete with those ofFluminense andBotafogo and are ahead of any non-Big Twelve ones.^[2] It is, in fact, one of theClube 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, itsBrasileirão 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 theCampeonato 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 theBrasileirão. Bahia was relegated in2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, but this time they only stayed two seasons out of Série A, making their comeback in the2017 edition.

The club also lags behind Big Twelve clubs in financial assets.^[19][20]

FromCuritiba,Paraná state capital, there areCoritiba Foot Ball Club andClub Athletico Paranaense, both playing in theCampeonato Paranaense.Athletico Paranaense is often regarded as one of the best-run clubs in Brazil,^[21] with financial results that rival those of the Big Twelve.^[19][20] The club has won theBrasileirão once, in2001, and its best campaigns at theCopa Libertadores were a runner-up showing in2005 and2022. However, the club has a very poor pre-1990s record at theBrasileirão and its fanbase is relatively small compared to Big Twelve clubs and very much contained withinParaná's borders.^[1]Coritiba won one title ofBrasileirão, conquered in 1985 and it was the first club of Paraná to participateCopa Libertadores, in 1986, as well as the first club to carry an expression title in its state.Athletico Paranaense also won the title ofCopa do Brasil, whichBotafogo did not win, and alsoCopa Sudamericana (or another of its predecessors), whichFlamengo,Fluminense,Vasco da Gama,Grêmio,Atlético Mineiro,Cruzeiro,Corinthians,Palmeiras andSantos did not win. While Coritiba was runner-up of Copa do Brasil twice, in2011 and2012.

Like the Big Twelve andBahia,Coritiba andAthletico Paranaense, the clubsGuarani,Portuguesa,Goiás,Sport andVitória were also members of theClube dos 13, composed by the most important and traditional clubs during its active period.^[22]

Guarani, the1978 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion^[23] andSport, the1987 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion, are the other Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champions outside the Big Twelve, also the latter being the2008 Copa do Brasil champion. In1979 Copa Libertadores, Guarani reached the semi-finals of the competition. And Sport's best appearances in international competitions were the round of 16 in the2009 Copa Libertadores and the quarter-finals of the2017 Copa Sudamericana.

Goiás andVitória spent mostly of the previous seasons on the second division, but achieved good results in the last years. Goiás was the2010 Copa Sudamericana runner-up,^[24] and Vitoria was the1993 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and2010 Copa do Brasil runner-up.^[25]

Portuguesa is historically one of the strongest teams inSão Paulo (state), winning twoTorneio Rio–São Paulo, the only team outside G-12 to win the competition. In addition, it has the same number of titles as Fluminense (2), and one more title than São Paulo and Flamengo (both have only 1). Portuguesa was also the1996 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up. After the "Héverton Case", in 2013, the team has been relegated to the second division, further being relegated two times straight.^[26]

During the early 2000s,São Caetano got noticed in both national and international media after being runner-up of2002Copa Libertadores, the most important tournament in South America. They lost the final to Paraguay clubOlimpia on penalty shootouts. They were also runner-up in both2000 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and2001 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

After theRed Bull took over the control of the1991 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up,Clube Atlético Bragantino, and changed its name toRed Bull Bragantino. The club claims that it will be one of Brazil's best clubs in the future, being runner-up in the2021 Copa Sudamericana.^[27][28]

Fortaleza, club ofCeará state, recently accumulated appearances in theCampeonato Brasileiro Série A andCopa Sudamericana, being runner-up in the2023 Copa Sudamericana, losing the final in penalty shootouts.

It is often argued that there is too big a gap even between Big Twelve clubs in honors (outside ofstate leagues) and fanbase size.^[17]Flamengo andCorinthians could be argued to be in a tier of their own in terms of supporters, far above third placeSão Paulo andPalmeiras. Still, this supposed superiority does not translate into the pitch, with many teams claiming more titles than them in theBrasileirão,Copa do Brasil,Copa Libertadores, andFIFA Club World Cup. Similarly, it's sometimes argued ifSantos andBotafogo are below their regional rivals (Corinthians,São Paulo andPalmeiras all boast significantly more supporters thanSantos;Flamengo,Fluminense andVasco da Gama are on the list of winners of theCopa do Brasil, not won byBotafogo). However, these two clubs' importance to Brazilian football cannot be understated:Santos'sOs Santásticos was the most dominant Brazilian side ever, winning sixBrasileirão and eightCampeonato Paulista titles in the 1960s; andBotafogo hold the record for most capped players for theBrazil national football team in World Cups.

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