The most decorated club in Brazilian league history, Palmeiras arrive at the FIFA Club World Cup with pedigree, expectations, and a point to prove. After falling just short in 2022, the Verdão return with a balanced squad, a proven coach in Abel Ferreira, and rising star Estêvão set for his final bow, but with Inter Miami, Al Ahly and a possible showdown with PSG or Atlético Madrid on the horizon, a deep run is anything but guaranteed.
1) Who will Palmeiras face at the Club World Cup?
Palmeiras have been drawn into Group A and these are their group stage fixtures:
19 June: vs Al Ahly. MetLife Stadium, New Jersey.
23 June: vs Inter Miami. Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.
2) Success in Brazil
Palmeiras are Brazil's most successful club, having won 12 Brasileirão titles, the first of which came in 1960, more-recently enjoying back-to-back triumphs in 2022 and 2023. They now boast four more top division crowns than the country's second-most successful team Santos.
On top of this, they've claimed 26 Campeonato Paulista titles, this the state champions for all São Paulo-based clubs, second only to Corinthians in this regard.
3) Libertadores triumphs
Meantime, Palmeiras are three-times Copa Libertadores winners, the joint-most of any Brazilian club. After defeat in the 1961 and 1968 finals, the Verdão were finally crowned kings of South America for the first time in 1999, before being beaten by Boca Juniors in the final 12 months later.
Nevertheless, they got their hands on the Copa again in January 2021, beating Santos 1-0 at the Maracanã, before retaining the title thanks to an extra time victory over Flamengo in Montevideo later that year.
4) A solid start to 2025
This calendar year has so far produced mixed results for Palmeiras. To commence the campaign, they reached the Campeonato Paulista Final, but were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Corinthians over two legs.
Meantime, 11 matches in the Brasileirão season, the Alviverde sit fourth, just two points adrift leaders Flamengo, albeit they did suffer back-to-back defeats ahead of this tournament, beaten 2-0 by the leaders on home turf, before a 2-1 loss against Cruzeiro at the Mineirão last time out on 1 June.
Lastly, Palmeiras enjoyed a perfect Copa Libertadores group stages, winning six matches out of six, so will now face Universitario in the round of 16 when the tournament resumes in August, surely considered one of the favourites, having reached, at least, the semis in four of the last five seasons.
5) Past Club World Cup expirence
This will be Palmeiras' third appearance at the Club World Cup, previously featuring at the tournament in February of both 2021 and 2022.
Well, the Verdão's debut campaign could hardly have gone much worse, dumped out in the semi-finals by Tigres UANL in Qatar, before losing the third-place play-off to Al Ahly on penalties. A year later, they did reach the final, this time ousting Al Ahly 2-0 in Abu Dhabi, before taking Chelsea to extra time, before ultimately being beaten 2-1, with the Blues scoring in the 117th minute.
Also worth noting that, back in 1999, they featured in the tournament precursor the Intercontinental Cup, defeated 1-0 by Manchester United in Tokyo, with Roy Keane the only scorer.
6) Palmeiras players to watch: Estêvão Willian
There are very few more exciting young talents at this tournament than Estêvão Willian.
The 18 year old, who made his senior debut in December 2023, has accumulated 78 appearances for Palmeiras to date, scoring 26 goals and registering 15 assists. This has also seen him earn international recognition, debut for Brazil against Ecuador in Curitiba last September.
Estêvão's performances certainly have not gone unnoticed, with Chelsea having already agreed to pay €60m to sign him later this summer. Thus, the Club World Cup will be Estêvão's final farewell to Palmeiras and he could meet his future employers in the quarter-finals, if both get that far.
7) Palmeiras players to watch: Vitor Roque
Another prince that was promised, who so far hasn't lived up to the hype, is Vitor Roque.
The striker joined Barcelona from Athletico Paranaense in January 2024, but never made much of an impression in Catalonia, scoring just two goals in 16 appearances. Thus, following a loan spell at Real Betis that produced only seven goals and one red card, he returned to Brazil to join Palmeiras for a reported €25.5m fee in February, making him the most expensive signing in South American history.
Still only 20 years old, Roque has scored just three times in 19 outings for the Verdão, so will be hoping this tournament can be when he re-announces himself on a global stage.
8) Palmeiras players to watch: José Manuel López
While Roque has found goals hard to come by, the same cannot be said of José Manuel López.
So far in 2025, the Argentine striker has ten goals to his name, to add to the 22 he bagged last year, most-recently notching a brace during the 6-0 Libertadores demolition of Sporting Cristal.
9) Manager Abel Ferreira: targeting more success
Having been appointed in November 2020, thereby taking charge of 347 matches to date, Abel Ferreira is one of the longest-serving head coaches at the Club World Cup.
After stints in charge of Braga and PAOK, the Portuguese boss has found a home in São Paulo, winning ten major honours with Palmeiras, including back-to-back Libertadores triumphs, two Brasileirão titles and reaching the club's first-ever Club World Cup Final three years ago. He has already cemented himself as a club legend, so could he lead the Verdão to glory this summer?
10) Are Palmeiras poised for a deep run?
Palmeiras will kick off their latest bid to become world champions against Porto, before also taking on familiar foes Al Ahly in East Rutherford, concluding the group phase against Inter Miami in Florida.
The Brazilian side should very much fancy their chances of not only getting out of the group but possibly topping the section too, albeit, if all goes as expected, they'll then meet either Paris Saint-Germain or Atlético Madrid in the round of 16, which would be a significant increase in difficulty level.