Clube de Regatas do Flamengo was founded on 17 November 1895 in the Flamengo district of Rio de Janeiro as a rowing club, and only formed a football team in 1911, playing its first matches the following year. Today it is a multi-sport institution based in Gavea and the most widely supported club in Brazil, with a following counted in the tens of millions.

Flamengo play in red and black hoops with white shorts, colours that gave rise to the nicknames Rubro-Negro and Mengao. The club has won the Brazilian national championship and the Rio de Janeiro state title many times over, and lifted the Copa Libertadores in 1981, 2019 and 2022, adding the Intercontinental Cup in 1981. Home matches are staged principally at the Maracana, and the derby with Fluminense, known as the Fla-Flu, is one of the most storied fixtures in South American football.