Brazil · Fortaleza
Fortaleza EC
Fortaleza Esporte Clube
Leão do Pici (Lion of Pici), Tricolor de Aço (Steel Tricolor), Leão (Lion), Laion (Lion)
Club from Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará, founded on 18 October 1918 and known as the Leão do Pici after its mascot and its headquarters.
See its shirts ↓Crests
The club
- Name
- Fortaleza EC
- Full name
- Fortaleza Esporte Clube
- Nickname
- Leão do Pici (Lion of Pici), Tricolor de Aço (Steel Tricolor), Leão (Lion), Laion (Lion)
- Founded
- October 18, 1918
- City
- Fortaleza
- Country
- Brazil
- Official website
- fortaleza1918.com.br
- Colors
- #0047AB, #D81E2A, #FFFFFF
- Competitions
- Campeonato Cearense (since 1920)
- Brasileirão Série A (1960–2025)
- Brasileirão Série B (since 1972)
- Copa do Brasil (since 1989)
- Copa do Nordeste (since 1997)
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série C (2010–2017)
- Copa Sudamericana (2020–2024)
- Copa Libertadores (2022–2025)
- In the archive
- 1 crest · 24 shirts
Current crest
Since 2026
Shirts
1940s
1950s
1970s
2000s
2010s
Club history
Club from Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará, founded on 18 October 1918 and known as the Leão do Pici after its mascot and its headquarters. It is one of the state's two big clubs, won the 2018 Série B and three Copas do Nordeste (2019, 2022 and 2024), and played in the 2023 Copa Sudamericana final. After seven seasons in Série A, it competes in Série B in 2026.
The full story is for premium members
Fortaleza Esporte Clube was born on 18 October 1918 in the capital of Ceará, under the name Fortaleza Sporting Club. Among its founders was Alcides Santos, its first president, who years earlier had created Stella Foot-Ball Club, a separate club that Fortaleza itself recognises as its inspiration. Santos chose blue, red and white in tribute to the flag of France, a country he had got to know in his youth. In the 1940s, a federal government decree required foreign words to be dropped, and the club was renamed Fortaleza Esporte Clube.
Stadium
Arena Castelão
- Popular name
- Castelão
- Location
- Castelão, Fortaleza
- Capacity
- 63,903 spectators
- Opened
- 1973
- The club plays here
- Since 1973
- Former names
- Estádio Governador Plácido Castelo, conocido como Castelão (1973-2012; sigue siendo el nombre oficial). Desde la reapertura de diciembre de 2012 se lo llama Arena Castelão.
Stadium owned and run by the Ceará State Government; it does not belong to Fortaleza, which uses it as its main home ground, as does Ceará. It opened on 11 November 1973 with a Clássico-Rei between the two clubs that ended 0-0, and in 1980 it drew some 120,000 people for the National Eucharistic Congress, during the visit of Pope John Paul II. It was renovated in 2002 and almost entirely rebuilt for the 2014 World Cup: it closed in March 2011 and reopened on 16 December 2012 as the Arena Castelão. It hosted the 2013 Confederations Cup and six matches of the 2014 World Cup, including the Brazil-Colombia quarter-final.
The fans
Fortaleza's supporters identify with the lion, the mascot created in the late 1960s, and with Pici, the neighbourhood where the club is based. Their great rival is Ceará, with whom they contest the Clássico-Rei, a very evenly matched fixture: by February 2026, 616 matches had been played, with 209 wins for Ceará, 188 for Fortaleza and 219 draws. The match that opened the Castelão, on 11 November 1973, was precisely a Clássico-Rei that ended 0-0.
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