The 2025 Club World Cup is being held in the United States at the moment, with clubs from all the continents taking part in it.
South American clubs like Flamengo, Palmeiras, Botafogo, Boca Juniors and River Plate are participating in it, and most of them are doing rather well.
Flamengo have handed Chelsea a shock defeat, and Palmeiras are at the top of their group after two rounds of matches.
The South American clubs are showing that they have enough talent at their disposal despite working as a supply-line of footballers for the rich European clubs.
South America’s Rich History at the Intercontinental Cup and Club World Cup
Boca Juniors are the joint-highest winners of the erstwhile Intercontinental Cup with three titles. In fact, Argentina has the highest number of titles (nine) in that tournament, consisting of a one-off tie.
River Plate have also won the competition once, as have the likes of Estudiantes and Independiente.
Brazil’s Flamengo and Sao Paulo have won the tournament too, as have Uruguay’s Penarol and Nacional.
Since the Club World Cup started in 2000, Corinthians, another Brazilian club, have won the tournament twice.
However, in the 20 editions of the Club World Cup held so far, only four of the titles have gone to South American teams.
Clubs from Brazil have won the title on each of those four occasions while clubs from no other South American country have managed to do so.
In comparison, European clubs have won the tournament 16 times, with those from Spain, England, Italy and Germany having successful campaigns.
This has a lot to do with the exorbitant flow of money in European club football that has consistently attracted young talents from South America, which has, in turn, left the clubs from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay devoid of great players.
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The Exodus of Talented Players From South America to Europe
South American players like Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Vinicius Junior and Angel Di Maria have come to play in Europe at quite a young age during the last quarter of a century.
As a result, the South American clubs have suffered in terms of quality, as the young players spotted by them have gone to attain global stardom.
Hence, the performance of South American clubs has suffered in recent decades. Things are not going to change anytime soon, as the financial resources of the European clubs are far superior.
However, as things are going at the moment, the Brazilian and Argentine clubs are holding their own at the 2025 Club World Cup.
The likes of Flamengo, Boca, River and Palmeiras might be able to reach the next round from their respective groups.
As European powerhouses like Real Madrid, Manchester City, Inter Milan, and Juventus force their way through to the latter stages of the competition, they might face some resistance from their Latin American counterparts.
The Asian and Oceanian clubs have, however, fared quite poorly so far, revealing the gulf in class there is between them and their European and South American counterparts.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Gribaudi/ImagePhoto
Recording Date: 20.06.2025
Good afternoon. Palmeiras also won a world tournament held after the 1950 FIFA World Cup—the first World Cup after the end of World War II. The Brazilian national team suffered a bitter loss in its very first final, a moment that became known as the “Maracanazo,” in the legendary Maracanã Stadium packed with 199,854 spectators on July 16, 1950, after losing 2-1 to Uruguay.
A young Pelé once said he saw his father cry because of that defeat. In that context, the 1951 club tournament served not only to capitalize on the commercial success of the 1950 FIFA World Cup, but was also seen by newspapers and by clubs like Vasco da Gama and Palmeiras as a kind of opportunity to “redeem” national pride. After all, the Brazilian national team (CBD) had not yet won any of its five titles at that time. Brazil, now with Pelé on the squad, would go on to win its first World Cup eight years later, in 1958, in Sweden. I’m simply providing context.
According to Italian journalist Claudio Carsughi, still alive and sharp at 92 years old, the 1951 tournament won by Palmeiras against Italy’s Juventus of Turin was greater and more significant than the 2000 tournament held in Rio de Janeiro.
After a series of matches among eight clubs from different countries, starting on June 30, 1951, through the group stage and semifinals, the finals were decided between Palmeiras and Juventus on July 18 and July 22, 1951. You can feel the heat of the emotion from those old radio broadcasts of football matches back in the day.⚽👏🏻