Fortaleza Esporte Clube

Fortaleza Esporte Clube (Portuguese: [foʁtaˈlezɐ isˈpɔʁt͡ʃi ˈklubi]) is a Brazilian multi-sport club based in Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará. Founded in 18 October 1918,^[3] primarily a football club, is active in other sports such as futsal, handball and basketball. The club's colors are red, blue and white.

Fortaleza is one of the most successful football clubs in the Brazilian Northeast, having won 46 state league titles and 3 Copa do Nordeste titles. It is placed by surveys as the third biggest fan base in the Northeast, behind only EC Bahia and Sport Clube do Recife.^[4] Its biggest rival is Ceará SC, and clashes between them are called Clássico-Rei (Classic of Kings).^[5]

On 23 February 1912, Alcides Santos founded a club called Fortaleza, and participated shortly after in the founding of the Stella Foot-Ball Club. Finally, on 18 October 1918, Fortaleza Sporting Club was born, the first denomination of the Fortaleza Esporte Clube. Its colors represent the colors of the French flag, since the founder spent time in France and decided to put the colors of the European country in the Brazilian club.

In 1920, they participated in the foundation of the Associação Cearense de Desportos. That same year they got their first Cearense Championship title.

In 1951, the Municipality of Fortaleza decided to renovate the Presidente Vargas Stadium. The idea of having a private stadium was reborn in the board since it had its own stadium during the 1920s.

In 1957, the club acquired from the land in Bairro do Pici from Mrs. Hedwing, which during the Second World War was where the American military base was in Fortaleza, called Post Command (Command Post), hence the name Pici, transfers it to the Club of Gentilândia in exchange for the new neighborhood. It changed its name to Leão do Pici, a reference to the neighborhood where the Parque dos Campeonatos is located.

The Alcides Santos Stadium opened its doors in June 1962, beating Usina Ceará in the inaugural match.

After finishing in 4th place in the 2021 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the club qualified for the Copa Libertadores for the first time in history. In 2023 they finished 2nd place in the Copa Sudamericana, losing to L.D.U. Quito.

Fortaleza's mascot is a lion named Juba. In the 1960s, a journalist suggested that a lion be used as the club's mascot, inspired by the city of Fortaleza's General Tibúrcio Square, popularly known as Praça dos Leões (Square of Lions).

• Home Uniform: Blue and red shirt with blue pants and white socks.
• Away uniform: White and blue shirt with blue pants and blue socks.

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
  • Player with most goals scored: Rinaldo (23 goals)
  • Player with most goals scored in a single tournament: Rinaldo (16 goals), in 2005
• All divisions taken in consideration
  • Player with most goals scored: Rinaldo (43 goals); in 2004 (14), 2005 (16), 2006 (11) and 2008 (2)
• Topscorers in national competitions (cups and leagues)
  • Bececê (7 goals), Taça Brasil 1960
  • Rinaldo (14 goals), Campeonato Brasileiro Série B 2004
• Best Série A right-back (Bola de Prata award): Louro, in 1974

The headquarters of Fortaleza lies in the district of Pici, which is a complex consisting of buildings named after prominent figures of the club throughout their history.

Fortaleza play their games at the 8,300-seater Estádio Alcides Santos, as well as Estádio Castelão, which can hold 63,903 supporters and Estádio Presidente Vargas with a capacity of 20,600.

• Alcides de Castro Santos (1918-1920)
• João Gentil (1920-1923)
• Eurico Salgado Duarte (1923-1924)
• Pedro Riquet Nogueira (1925-1926)
• Francisco Luís de Oliveira (1927-1928)
• Lafayette Tapioca (1929)
• Antônio de Pádua Freire (1930-1932)
• Antenor Vale (1933-1934)
• Osvaldo Moreira Lima (1935-1936)
• João Ramos César de Vasconcelos (1937)
• Heitor Ribeiro (1938)
• Meton Borges (1938)
• Demócrito Freire (1938)
• Francisco Araújo (1939-1940)
• José Milton Holanda Pimentel (1940)
• Pedro Riquet Nogueira (1940)
• Capitão Luís Clóvis de Oliveira (1940-1941)
• Adriano Rodrigues Martins (1941)
• Luís Abner (1941-1942)
• Edmar Vilar de Queiróz (1942)
• Ivan César de Vasconcelos (1942-1943)
• Agapito dos Santos Sátiro (1943-1944)
• Capitão Galileu Saldanha de Menezes (1944-1945)
• Capitão Edmar Rabelo Maia (1945-1946)
• José Mário Belém de Figueiredo (1946-1949)
• Francisco Lorda Filho (1949)
• Mendo Leonel Chaves (1949-1950)
• Otoni Diniz (1950)
• Álvaro Paulo Kruel Viana (1950)
• Amaury Barbosa Gurgel (1951)
• José William Girão Frota (1951)
• Arcelino Costa Leitão (1951-1954)
• Francisco Bezerra de Oliveira (1954-1955)
• Pedro Torres (1955)
• Francisco Bezerra de Oliveira (1955-1956)
• Carlos Rolim Filho (1956-1958)
• Francisco Bezerra de Oliveira (1958)
• Francisco Mozart Cavalcante Gomes (1958)
• José Raimundo Costa (1958-1959)
• Manuel Nunes de Oliveira (1959)
• Antônio Luís do Vale (1959)
• Manuel Nunes de Oliveira (1959-1960)
• Otoni Diniz (1960-1961)
• José Raimundo Costa (1961)
• Otoni Diniz (1961-1963)
• José Orestes Cavalcante (1963)
• Francisco Manhães (1963)
• José Raimundo Costa (1964)
• José Orestes Cavalcante (1964)
• José William Girão Frota (1964-1965)
• Francisco Bezerra de Oliveira (1965)
• José Raimundo Costa (1965-1966)
• Francisco Bezerra de Oliveira (1966-1967)
• José Raimundo Costa (1967)
• Edmilson Barros de Oliveira (1967)
• Renato Brito Bastos (1967)
• Abdias Veras Filho (1967)
• Egberto de Paula Rodrigues (1967)
• Edmilson Xavier Bindá (1967-1968)
• Fares Cândido Lopes (1968)
• Otoni Diniz (1968-1969)
• Egberto de Paula Rodrigues (1969)
• José Raimundo Fontenelle (1969)
• José Cidrão de Oliveira (1970-1971)
• José Edyr Sabóia de Castro (1971-1972)
• General Edmar Rabelo Maia (1972-1975)
• Francisco Alves Maia (1975-1976)
• Airton França Rebouças (1977)
• Cid Liberato Paracampos (1977)
• Deputado Alfredo Machado (1977-1978)
• Otoni Diniz (1978)
• Deputado Alfredo Machado (1978-1979)
• Engenheiro Cássio Borges (1979)
• Ezequiel Menezes Filho (1979)
• José Camilo de Aguiar (1979-1980)
• João de Deus Costa Lima (1980)
• Fares Lopes (1980-1981)
• Silvio Carlos Vieira Lima (1981-1982)
• Hélder Veríssimo de Lima (1982-1983)
• Newton Cavalcante de Castro (1983)
• Ney Rebouças (1983-1984)
• Emanoel Papy Sabóia (1984)
• João de Deus Costa Lima (1984)
• João Gonçalves Monteiro (1984)
• Newton Cavalcante de Castro (1984)
• José Nestor Falcão Filho (1985-1986)
• Silvio Carlos Vieira Lima (1987-1989)
• Mauro Moraes de Lima (1989-1990)
• Paulo Rogério Magalhães (1990)
• Péricles Mulatinho (1990)
• Carlos Alberto Ribeiro (1990)
• Péricles Ribeiro Mulatinho (1991-1992)
• Flávio Novaes (1993)
• Fernando Silva (1993)
• Newton Cavalcante (1994)
• Quintino Feitosa (1994)
• Raimundo Regadas (1994)
• José Raimundo Costa (1995)
• Fernando Silva (1995)
• José Raimundo Costa (1995)
• Souza Filho (1996)
• Ciro Nepomuceno (1996)
• José Raimundo Costa (1996)
• Osvaldo Azim (1996-1998)
• Atanásio dos Santos (1998)
• Ariosvaldo Gomes (1998)
• Leonel Pereira Alencar Neto (1998-1999)
• Jorge Alberto Carvalho Mota (1999-2004)
• Clayton Alcântara Veras (2004)
• José Ribamar Felipe Bezerra (2005-2006)
• Marcelo Desidério (2007-2008)
• Lúcio Bonfim (2008-2009)
• Renan Vieira (2009-2010)
• Paulo Arthur (2011)
• Osmar Baquit (2011-2014)
• Jorge Mota (2014-2017)
• Marcello Desidério (2017)
• Luis Eduardo Girão (2017)
• Marcelo Paz (2017—2023)
• Alex Santiago (2024—2025)
• Rolim Machado (2025—)

As of 2 July 2025^[6]

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

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

As of 24 February 2023.

•   record
• ^s shared record

• Panamaribo Cup (1): 1962

• Torneio Início do Torneio de Integração Nacional (1): 1971

• Copa Cidade de Natal (1): 1946
• Zona Norte-Nordeste da Taça Brasil (2): 1960, 1968

• Torneio Início do Ceará (12): 1925, 1927, 1928, 1933, 1935, 1948, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1977

• Copa Sudamericana (1): 2023
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (2): 1960, 1968
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (2): 2002, 2004
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série C (1): 2017
• Campeonato Cearense (28): 1922, 1925, 1929, 1936, 1941, 1944, 1950, 1958, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1997, 2002, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2024, 2025
• Copa Fares Lopes (1): 2017

• Campeonato Cearense de Futebol Feminino (3): 2010, 2020, 2022

• Official website
• Fan Online Community (archived 20 August 2008)
• Site with News related to Fortaleza Esporte Clube (archived 8 February 2006)