The Portuguese influence behind the Brasileirão’s renaissance | OneFootball

It has been 25 years since the first-ever edition of the FIFA Club World Cup was held in Rio de Janeiro. Back then, it was known as the FIFA Club World Championship, it was held in January, and it featured eight teams from all across the world. Whilst Vasco da Gama finished ahead of Real Madrid, Al-Nassr, and Raja Casablanca, Corinthians finished ahead of Necaxa, Manchester United and South Melbourne, setting up an all-Brazilian clash in the final, where Corinthians prevailed 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

Fast forward a quarter-century, and it’s clear that plenty has changed. The new FIFA Club World Cup kicked off on 14 June, and this time it featured not eight teams, but 32. This time, it didn’t last a mere 10 days, but an entire month. And this time, the matches were held across the United States of America.

However, one thing that hasn’t changed is the potency of the Brazilian teams. While Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and England each had two representatives, Brazil had a whopping four teams (Botafogo, Fluminense, Flamengo and Palmeiras) qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup. What’s more, each of those teams have finished in the top two positions of their respective groups and qualified for the knockout round. As for Portugal, meanwhile, only Benfica managed to qualify for the Round of 16 in contrast to Porto who suffered a humiliating group stage exit.

But whilst the Brasileirão has certainly upstaged Liga Portugal this summer, it cannot be denied that there has been a certain Portuguese influence behind the Brazilian teams’ renaissance. Between 2014 and 2018, only one Brazilian side (Grêmio) managed to win the Copa Libertadores, the highest prize in South American club football.

Since then, Flamengo won it in 2019, Palmeiras won the 2020 and 2021 editions, Flamengo won it in 2022, whilst Fluminense claimed their first-ever Libertadores in 2023. And in 2024, Botafogo reached the apex of South American football. So that is six consecutive Brazilian champions, with four of the last five finals all-Brazilian clashes. Perhaps most surprising of all, four of those six times when a Brazilian team lifted the ultimate prize in South American club football, they did so with a Portuguese coach at the helm.

Jorge Jesus the trailblazer

The inflection point of Brazilian football’s turnaround came precisely six years ago, when Jorge Jesus came to Flamengo. Derided as a washed-up foreigner upon his arrival, Jesus was not exactly welcomed with open arms, with many local pundits suggesting Flamengo would be better off with a Brazilian coach leading them. “I did not come to take anybody’s place or to teach anyone. I am neither better nor worse, I work according to a methodology,” argued Jorge Jesus in his defence.

“I would like to remind my Brazilian colleagues that we had a Brazilian [manager] in the national team, Luiz Felipe Scolari. He was admired by the Portuguese managers. He and many others who worked in Portugal. All of us in Portugal tried to learn from them, there was never this verbal aggression that there is against me. I don't understand these closed minds.”

He talked the talk, and pretty soon, he would walk the walk. Over the course of a year, Jesus won five trophies with Flamengo, winning 43 out of 57 matches in charge of the Rubro-Negro and becoming the first foreign manager to win an international trophy with a Brazilian side. It wasn’t long before more Brazilian teams tried to recreate Flamengo’s magic by hiring Portuguese managers. Coaches like Jesualdo Ferreira (Santos), Pedro Caixinha (Red Bull Bragantino and Santos), Armando Evangelista (Goiás) and Paulo Gomes (Botafogo-SP) suddenly found themselves inundated with offers to manage Brazilian teams.

Brazilian clubs “go Portuguese”

Botafogo enjoyed a seismic rise from Brazil’s second tier to the upper echelon of South America thanks to their trust in Portuguese coaches like Luís Castro, Bruno Lage, and Artur Jorge, the latter guiding them to their first-ever Copa Libertadores title as well as their first league title in 29 years before heading to Al-Rayyan. Corinthians appointed current Wolves coach Vítor Pereira in 2021, whilst Vasco hired Ricardo Sá Pinto in 2020 and Álvaro Pacheco in 2024. Flamengo, for their part, tried to repeat the formula by hiring Portuguese coaches Paulo Sousa and Vítor Pereira, albeit to little avail. In December 2022, Ivo Vieira replaced his compatriot António Oliveira at the helm of Campeonato Brasileiro Série A side Cuiabá Esporte Clube, where he won the first trophy of his career: the Campeonato Mato-Grossense. And shortly after Vieira was sacked, they naturally went with yet another Portuguese coach in Petit.

Such is Brazilian football’s economic superiority compared to Portuguese football that many top players and managers have decided to depart their Liga Portugal clubs midway through the campaign in order to try their luck in the Brasileirão.

As Miguel Lourenço Pereira stated in his 2024 book Bring Me That Horizon, “Of all the former European imperial states, Portugal is the only one that ended up being culturally colonised by its former colony. Turn on the radio and you will likely end up listening to the newest Brazilian funk hit. Watch television after dinner, and there’s your colourful Brazilian soap opera waiting for you. Check your holiday calendar and discuss it with friends, and someone surely will be heading to the tropical Brazilian shores. Everywhere you look, Brazil is present in day-to-day life. It’s impregnated in Portugal’s culture like no other country.”

Portugal’s coaching school

But whilst Brazil’s tantalizing salaries have made it a welcome destination for Portugal’s various footballers and coaches, it cannot be denied that Brazilian football needed to import Portuguese coaches in order to become the dominant force it is today. Whereas Brazil has struggled to produce top-class coaches in the start of the 21st century and has even taken the unusual step of appointing a foreigner (Carlo Ancelotti) as the national team manager, Portugal has managed to spread its tactical influence throughout the globe thanks to a number of shrewd coaches prospering in a variety of leagues. José Mourinho’s CV speaks for itself, while the likes of Paulo Fonseca, Nuno Espírito Santo and Marco Silva have earned fine reputations and enjoyed success in some of the most high-profile leagues in Europe.

Brazil certainly are not done with Portuguese coaches. After guiding Paços de Ferreira and Vitória S.C. to European football, Pepa tried his luck at Cruzeiro before being sacked after a couple of months; one year later, he was appointed as the coach of Sport Recife, where he achieved promotion to the top-flight and won the Campeonato Pernambucano.

Today, there are three Portuguese coaches managing in Brazil’s top-flight. Abel Ferreira is in the dugout at Palmeiras, Leonardo Jardim is overseeing the coaching duties at Cruzeiro, whilst Renato Paiva is coaching Botafogo. And with Botafogo and Palmeiras continuing to wave the Brazilian flag high at the FIFA Club World Cup (alongside Fluminense and Flamengo), there’s reason to believe that Portuguese coaches will continue to trickle into Brazil’s storied football leagues.