Flamengo's defeat keeps Corinthians as last non-European world champions | OneFootball

Flamengo's defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the 2025 Intercontinental Cup reinforced a fact that has persisted for over a decade in world football: Corinthians remains the last club outside Europe to win a world title. Champions in 2012, after defeating Chelsea 1-0 in Japan, Timão remains the last exception amidst the European hegemony that has been consolidated since then.

In Qatar, Flamengo had the chance to break this dominance but ended up being overcome by PSG on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in regular time and extra time. The result extended the sequence of South American and, especially, Brazilian frustrations in the tournament, whether in the old Club World Cup, the revamped Intercontinental Cup, or the recent Club World Cup.

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Since 2012, several Brazilian clubs have reached the World Cup with the expectation of repeating historic feats, but all have stumbled. Atlético-MG fell to Raja Casablanca in 2013, Grêmio lost the final to Real Madrid in 2017, Flamengo was runner-up in 2019 against Liverpool and was defeated again now in 2025, while Palmeiras finished fourth in 2020 and runner-up in 2021 against Chelsea.

Fluminense, in 2023, also couldn't withstand Manchester City, being decisively beaten in the final, just like Botafogo, which didn't even make it to the final against Real Madrid in 2023, falling to Pachuca.

Besides Brazilian clubs, traditional teams from other parts of the world also failed in their attempts to win the world title. Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Pachuca and Tigres (Mexico), Al Ain (United Arab Emirates), Kashima Antlers (Japan), River Plate and San Lorenzo (Argentina) reached the finals but couldn't lift the trophy.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.