Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, commonly known as "Cruzeiro", was founded on January 2, 1921, and is a professional football club located in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The name "Cruzeiro" means Southern Cross.
The club was initially established by the local Italian immigrant community and was originally named "Palestra Itália". However, due to the Brazilian government's prohibition of Axis-related symbols during World War II, it was renamed Cruzeiro in 1942 and adopted blue jerseys.
Cruzeiro is the only club in the history of Brazilian football to have achieved the "Triple Crown," having won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the Copa do Brasil, and the state championship simultaneously in 2003. The club has also won the Copa Libertadores, the Copa do Brasil, and other important domestic and international honors multiple times. Cruzeiro is known for developing local players and has produced many well-known national team players for Brazilian football.
The club was long one of the four teams in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A that had never been relegated, but in 2019 it faced relegation for the first time, returning to Série A in 2022 as the Série B champion. The derby match between Cruzeiro and local rivals Atlético Mineiro is known as the "Minas Gerais Derby" and is one of the most intense and followed derbies in Brazil.