Associação Chapecoense de Futebol

Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, commonly known as Chapecoense, is a Brazilian football club, based in the city of Chapecó in the state of Santa Catarina.

The club was founded in 1973 with the goal of restoring football in the city, and won the state championship, the Campeonato Catarinense, for the first time in 1977. The club has won seven state titles to date, most recently in 2020. A relatively small club, it entered Brazil's top division, Série A, for the first time in 1978, returning to the top flight only in 2014. The club also has activities in futsal, in which it has been state champion twice. The club's home matches are played at Arena Condá.

On 28 November 2016, a charter flight carrying the first team crashed as it approached José María Córdova International Airport near Medellín, Colombia, where the team was travelling to play the first leg of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana final against Atlético Nacional, a match that was seen as the biggest in the history of the club. All but six of the 77 passengers died; only three Chapecoense players survived their injuries. Following the crash, Atlético Nacional made a request to the governing body of the competition, CONMEBOL, that Chapecoense be awarded the trophy. CONMEBOL awarded Chapecoense the trophy on 5 December, and Atlético Nacional received both the Centennial Fair Play Award and FIFA Fair Play Award for their gesture.

History

The club was founded as Associação Chapecoense de Futebol on 10 May 1973, after the merger of Atlético Chapecoense and Independente.

In 1977, Chapecoense won its first title, which was the Campeonato Catarinense, beating Avaí 1–0 in the final.

In 1978, the club competed for the first time in the Campeonato Brasileiro, finishing in the 51st position, and in following year, finished in the 93rd position.

In 2002, due to a partnership, Chapecoense was renamed to Associação Chapecoense Kindermann/Mastervet. In 2006, the club went back to its original name, Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, and also won the Copa Santa Catarina. In 2007, the club won the state championship for the third time, and also competed in the Brazilian Championship Third Level, but was eliminated in the first stage of the competition. They won the Campeonato Catarinense again in 2011 and 2016.

Chapecoense competed in the Série A for the first time since 1979 in 2014, as the club was promoted after they and Bragantino drew 1–1, in Chapecó, for the 2013 Série B. Winning important points during its first season in the top flight, Chape cemented a place in the 2015 Série A, its second season in a row in the first division.

In 2016, Chapecoense made history when they reached the finals of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club football tournament, after defeating San Lorenzo de Almagro using the away goals rule. They were awarded the title following LaMia Flight 2933, a disastrous plane crash which killed the majority of their squad on the way to the final.

2016 plane crash

On the evening of 28 November 2016, LaMia Flight 2933, carrying 77 people, including the staff and players from the club, crashed as it approached Medellín, Colombia; 71 people died (including 21 journalists and almost the entire first team and managerial staff) and 6 survived, according to the BBC. The surviving players were left-back Alan Ruschel, backup goalkeeper Jakson Follmann (who had one of his legs amputated due to his injuries and was forced to retire from professional football), and center-back Neto. Goalkeeper Danilo initially survived the crash, but later died before arriving to the hospital. Chapecoense goalkeeper Nivaldo, who did not board the flight, soon after announced his immediate retirement from football. It emerged that the crash had resulted from fuel starvation; the pilot had requested to land due to fuel problems, but was instructed to wait, as another aircraft was having fuel leakage problems and had already requested priority landing. The government of Bolivia suspended LaMia Airlines's flying license after it surfaced that the pilot skipped a crucial refueling stop.

Due to the crash, the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals in which the team were due to play was suspended indefinitely. Their opponents, Atlético Nacional, offered to concede the tie to allow Chapecoense to be awarded the championship. On 4 December 2016, Chapecoense's interim president announced that CONMEBOL would be granting the club the tournament title and prize money. While initially other Brazilian clubs offered to loan out players to them for free and sent a request to the Brazilian FA stating that the club should be immune from relegation for three years, Chapecoense rejected this assistance, stating that they wanted to rebuild properly.

Chapecoense were asked to fulfill their next league fixture in tribute to the players and staff who died in a plane crash. Chapecoense President Ivan Tozzo revealed that the Brazilian FA had asked for the club to play their final league game of the 2016 campaign in part by drawing on their Under-20s side to fill out the roster. However, both Chapecoense and their opponents Atlético Mineiro refused to play. Both teams were awarded a 3–0 loss for the game.

Deceased Chapecoense players

• Ailton Cesar Junior Alves da Silva (Canela), 22
• Dener Assunção Braz (Dener), 25
• Marcelo Augusto Mathias da Silva (Marcelo), 25
• Matheus Bitencourt da Silva (Matheus Biteco), 21
• Mateus Lucena dos Santos (Caramelo), 22
• Guilherme Gimenez de Souza (Gimenez), 21
• Lucas Gomes da Silva (Lucas Gomes), 26
• Everton Kempes dos Santos Gonçalves (Kempes), 34
• Arthur Brasiliano Maia (Arthur Maia), 24
• Ananias Eloi Castro Monteiro (Ananias), 27
• Marcos Danilo Padilha (Danilo), 31
• Filipe José Machado (Filipe Machado), 32
• Sérgio Manoel Barbosa Santos (Sérgio Manoel), 27
• José Gildeixon Clemente de Paiva (Gil), 29
• Bruno Rangel Domingues (Bruno Rangel), 34
• Cléber Santana Loureiro (Cléber Santana), 35
• Josimar Rosado da Silva Tavares (Josimar), 30
• Willian Thiego de Jesus (Thiego), 30
• Tiago da Rocha Vieira Alves (Tiaguinho), 22

Deceased Chapecoense staff

• Luiz Carlos Saroli (Caio Júnior), coach, 51
• Gilberto Pace Thomaz (Giba), press officer, 29

Later years

As Copa Sudamericana champions, Chapecoense qualified for the 2017 Copa Libertadores, their first appearance in that tournament. With a squad built up from loan players, free signings and promoted youth players, as well as two survivors of the crash, they won their first match in an away game at Zulia of Venezuela.

On 27 November 2019, almost three years to the day from the devastating plane crash, the club suffered relegation from the Série A following a 0–1 loss to Botafogo.

On 12 January 2021, a year after being relegated, they were promoted back to the Série A following a 2–1 victory against state rivals Figueirense.

Current squad

As of 5 April 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Youth team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Sponsors

As of 2016, the sponsors are English company Umbro, the kit supplier; Caixa Econômica Federal, a state-owned Brazilian bank; Unimed, a Brazilian health insurance company; and Aurora Alimentos, a food processing company from Chapecó.

Honours

Official tournaments

Others tournaments

National and Inter-state

• Copa da Paz Internacional (1): 2005
• Torneio da Cidade de São Gabriel (1): 2005
• Troféu João Saldanha (1): 2017

State

• Taça Santa Catarina (2): 1979, 2014

Runners-up

• Recopa Sudamericana (1): 2017
• Suruga Bank Championship (1): 2017
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (1): 2013
• Campeonato Catarinense (10): 1978, 1991, 1995, 2009, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025, 2026
• Copa Santa Catarina (1): 1996
• Recopa Catarinense (1): 2021

Season records

As of 2025 season

Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA Pts. Copa do Brasil CONMEBOL 1978 Série A 51 18 5 5 8 13 22 15 – DNP 1979 Série A 93 9 0 3 6 6 16 3 – DNP 1980 Série B 64 7 0 1 6 2 13 1 – DNP 1987 Série C 9 8 2 5 1 8 7 9 – DNP 1992 Série C 13 6 3 1 2 9 8 7 DNP DNP 1995 Série C 27 8 3 3 2 9 8 12 DNP DNP 1996 Série C 39 6 3 0 3 6 9 9 DNP DNP 1997 Série C 40 6 2 1 3 3 4 7 DNP DNP 1998 Série C 58 10 1 3 6 11 26 6 DNP DNP 2007 Série C 54 6 1 1 4 5 10 4 DNP DNP 2008 DNP Second round DNP 2009 Série D 3 14 8 3 3 24 13 27 DNP DNP 2010 Série C 7 10 3 4 3 10 10 16 Second round DNP 2011 Série C 6 14 6 3 5 25 19 21 DNP DNP 2012 Série C 3 22 9 6 7 27 14 33 Second round DNP 2013 Série B 2 38 20 12 6 60 31 72 DNP DNP 2014 Série A 15 38 11 10 17 39 44 43 Second round DNP 2015 Série A 14 38 12 11 15 34 44 47 Second round CS Quarterfinals 2016 Série A 11 38 13 13 12 49 53 52 Round of 32 CS Champions 2017 Série A 8 38 15 9 14 47 49 54 Round of 16 CL Group stage CS Round of 16 2018 Série A 14 38 11 11 16 34 50 44 Quarterfinals CL Second stage 2019 Série A 19 38 7 11 20 31 52 32 Fourth round CS First stage 2020 Série B 1 38 20 13 5 42 21 73 Second round DNP 2021 Série A 20 38 1 12 25 27 67 15 Third round DNP 2022 Série B 14 38 11 12 15 37 39 45 First round DNP 2023 Série B 16 38 9 13 16 38 43 40 First round DNP 2024 Série B 15 38 11 11 16 34 45 44 DNP DNP 2025 Série B 3 38 18 8 12 52 35 62 DNP DNP

Notes

External links

• (in Portuguese)