Cuiabá Esporte Clube, commonly referred to as Cuiabá, is a Brazilian professional club based in
Cuiabá
Cuiabá () is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America. Also, it forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várzea Grande. The city ...
,
Mato Grosso founded on 12 December 2001. It competes in the
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...
, the top flight of
Brazilian football
Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of the country’s national identity. The Brazil national football team has won the FIFA World Cup five times, the most of any team, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Brazil an ...
, as well as in the
Campeonato Mato-Grossense, the top flight of the Mato Grosso
state football league.
History
The club was founded on 12 December 2001 by former player
Gaúcho
A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired an ...
,
who was the manager in the club's amateur era. In 2003, they took part of their first professional tournament, the
Campeonato Mato-Grossense, and lifted the trophy after defeating
Barra do Garças
Barra do Garças is a city with a population of 61,135 located in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, around far from the capital city of Cuiabá. It was founded on 13 June 1924, but it became political independent just on 15 September 1948. Now ...
in the finals.
Cuiabá also played in the
2003 Série C, being knocked out by
Palmas. In 2004, the club again won the Mato-Grossense, but was knocked out in both the
2004 Copa do Brasil and
2004 Série C.
In December 2006, after a disappointing ninth position in the year's Mato-Grossense, Cuiabá closed their football department. The club only returned to an active status in 2009, after being acquired by the ''Grupo Dresch'', and competed in the
Campeonato Mato-Grossense Segunda Divisão, where they finished second and achieved promotion back to the top tier.
In 2011, Cuiabá lifted the Mato-Grossense after seven years. They also played in
that year's Série D, and achieved promotion after finishing third. In the following year, they lost the Mato-Grossense on penalties to
Luverdense, and managed to
avoid relegation from the Série C.
The club won two consecutive Mato-Grossense titles in 2013 and 2014, and avoided relegation from the Série C. In 2014, the club left their stadium
Estádio Eurico Gaspar Dutra and moved to the
Arena Pantanal, built for the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
.
In 2015, Cuiabá won the greatest title in its history to date. After losing the first match to the
Remo
Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumhead
A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched ov ...
by 4–1, it obtained a historic turnaround and won by 5–1, obtaining the title of
Copa Verde
The Copa Verde ( en, Green Cup) is an annual regional knockout football competition in Brazil that started in 2014, and played by 24 teams from the North and Central-West regions, plus Espírito Santo (Espírito Santo state was included because ...
of that year. With the title, the club secured a place in the
Copa Sudamericana
The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...
the following year and participated for the first time in an international competition. Cuiabá was eliminated in the second round by
Chapecoense.
In 2018 and 2019, Cuiabá won two consecutive Mato-Grossense titles without a single defeat, and was promoted to the Série B in 2019. In 2021, the club was promoted to the Série A for the first time in their history after finishing in 4th place, and became the first team from
Mato Grosso to play in the first division since
CEOV's participation in the
1986 edition.
Supporters
Since 2010 when Cuiabá began to invest more in its cast and was gaining prestige in its city earning local titles and having access to the third national division, quickly was gaining strength of the local press and of the inhabitants of the region, and with that strength increased very much their number of fans. In 2011 was founded its first organized fans, who had a reputation at all home games for being very festive, colorful and noisy.
Stadium
Cuiabá play their home games at
Arena Pantanal. The stadium, which was built for the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
, has a maximum capacity of 42,968 people. Before the construction of the new stadium, the club played their home games at
Estádio Eurico Gaspar Dutra, with a capacity of 4,500 people.
Rivalries
One of the biggest rivalries is against
Luverdense. This game is considered to be the greatest derby in Mato Grosso today because the two teams are the largest forces in state football, as well as being a team match between the capital and the interior of Mato Grosso.
Another rival is the
Mixto
Mixto Esporte Clube, usually known simply as Mixto, is a Brazilian football club from Cuiabá, Mato Grosso state. The club competed in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A several times and is one of the most popular clubs of Mato Grosso state. ...
, who contest a local derby with Cuiabá.
Players
First team squad
Reserve team
Out on loan
First-team staff
Honours
*
Copa Verde
The Copa Verde ( en, Green Cup) is an annual regional knockout football competition in Brazil that started in 2014, and played by 24 teams from the North and Central-West regions, plus Espírito Santo (Espírito Santo state was included because ...
: Winners (2):
2015,
2019
*
Campeonato Mato-Grossense
: Winners (11): 2003, 2004, 2011,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, 2014,
2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
*
Copa FMF
The Copa Federação Matogrossense de Futebol, also known as Copa FMF, is a tournament organized by Federação Matogrossense de Futebol every second half of the season.
The tournament was also previously called Copa Governador de Mato Grosso ...
: Winners (2): 2010, 2016
References
External links
*
{{Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
Cuiabá Esporte Clube
Association football clubs established in 2001
Cuiabá
Cuiabá () is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America. Also, it forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várzea Grande. The city ...
Cuiabá
2001 establishments in Brazil
Copa Verde winners