Vasco da Gama (W)

The foundation of Vasco took place in the context of the popularization of rowing at the end of the 19th century. The idea to create a rowing club originated with four young Brazilians—Henrique M. Ferreira Monteiro, Luiz Antonio Rodrigues, José Alexandre d'Avellar Rodrigues, and Manoel Teixeira de Sousa Junior—all clerks working in downtown Rio de Janeiro. During their free time, the young men rented a rowboat named "Iracema" from the Grupo de Regatas Gragoatá in Niterói. The distance between Rio de Janeiro and Niterói inspired the idea to establish a rowing club in the Saúde neighborhood, where they worked. A fifth member, Lopes de Freitas, was invited, and the initial meetings took place in January 1898. The idea of a new rowing club in the neighborhood was promoted in commercial circles, and the four founders quickly attracted new interested parties. Among those invited to the future institution were the Couto brothers, Portuguese merchants in the steam-powered sawmill business, who had the necessary capital to establish the club in its early stages. After several preliminary meetings, the club was founded on August 21, 1898, at Rua da Saúde, No. 293 (now No. 345, Rua Sacadura Cabral), with 62 founding members of the institution. The name chosen for the club — Vasco da Gama — was in honor of the IV centenary of the discovery of the maritime route to India by Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, as many of the founders were Portuguese. Vasco da Gama incorporated the Lusitânia Sport Club football team in 1915 and officially entered football competition the following year, embracing an inclusive identity that welcomed players regardless of race, social class or origin. Competing initially in the third division of Rio de Janeiro, the club steadily strengthened its squad with Black, mixed-race, Portuguese and working-class white players, in contrast to the exclusivity seen in many elite clubs of the period. After winning the second division title in 1922 with an impressive campaign, Vasco secured promotion to the top tier of Campeonato Carioca. In 1923, defying expectations, the team won the first-division championship in its debut season, defeating leading clubs such as America, Fluminense and Flamengo. This historic achievement — led by the legendary Camisas Negras (Black Shirts) — represented a major social milestone in Brazilian sport, marking the first time a team composed largely of Afro-descendant and poor players conquered a major title against the city’s traditional elite. The significance of this moment continues to resonate today, with the Camisas Negras recognized nationally, including their place in Livro dos Heróis da Pátria (Book of Heroes of the Fatherland) of Tancredo Neves Pantheon of the Fatherland and Freedom.

After attempts to prevent Vasco da Gama from entering the competition, clubs from the south zone (elite area of the city of Rio de Janeiro), America, Bangu, Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and a few others joined, abandoned the Liga Metropolitana de Desportos Terrestres (LMDT) and founded the Associação Metropolitana de Esportes Atléticos (AMEA), leaving out Vasco, which could only join the new entity if it dismissed twelve of its athletes (all black) on the grounds that they had a "dubious profession". Faced with the imposed situation, in 1924, the president of the C.R. Vasco da Gama, José Augusto Prestes, envied a letter to AMEA, which came to be known as the "Resposta Histórica" (Historical Response), refusing to submit to the imposed condition and withdrawing from membership in the AMEA. The letter went down in history as a milestone in the fight against racism in football. In this way, in 1924, two championships were played in parallel, the LMDT being won undefeated by Vasco, thus winning the second state championship. The following year, the club overcame the resistance of the AMEA, managed to join the entity and again competed in the championship against the great teams under the condition of playing their games in the Andarahy Athletico Club field. Despite this, Vasco decided to build its own stadium, to end any demand. The place chosen for the construction was the São Januário farm, which had been a gift from Dom Pedro I to the Marchioness of Santos. On April 21, 1927, Vasco da Gama inaugurated the São Januário stadium, the largest stadium in the Americas until 1930, when the Estadio Centenario was inaugurated in Montevideo (for the first World Cup). Until 1940, when Pacaembu was inaugurated in São Paulo, the stadium was the largest in Brazil, and until 1950, when Maracanã was inaugurated, it was the largest in Rio de Janeiro. The stadium was built in ten months and with money raised through the "Campanha dos dez mil sócios" (Campaign of the Ten Thousand members) which received donations from fans across the city. Two years later, its lighting would be inaugurated, becoming the only club in the country with a stadium capable of hosting night games.

In 1942, the club lived an uncomfortable fast of 5 years without any title in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Trying to reverse this situation, the Vasco's president Cyro Aranha adopted a long-term policy based on hiring young players. The team, which would later become known as Expresso da Vitória (Victory Express), was composed of the goalkeeper Barbosa, striker Ademir de Menezes, midfielders Jair, Lelé, Isaías, Ely and Djalma and winger Chico, among others. This generation of players, commanded mainly by Uruguayan coach Ondino Viera, was one of the first Brazilian teams to use the 4–2–4 tactical scheme, which strongly influenced Brazilian and Uruguayan football in the 1950s. The Expresso da Vitória won eighteen titles in ten years, including five state championships (three undefeated) and the South American Championship of Champions over River Plate in 1948, making Vasco the first Brazilian team (either club or national team) to win an international title outside Brazil. Later, Vasco was recognized by CONMEBOL as the 1948 continental champion and this competition was recognized as a precursor to the Copa Libertadores. This caused Vasco to be invited to the 1997 Supercopa Libertadores, a tournament only for clubs that had already been champions of the Copa Libertadores (Vasco would only win its first Copa Libertadores the following year, in 1998).

In the early 50s, many players from Expresso da Vitória had already left, and the team had new players, including Vavá, Bellini, Sabará and Pinga. At the beginning of 1953, Vasco won the Quadrangular Internacional do Rio de Janeiro, a tournament it played against its rival Flamengo and Argentine teams Boca Juniors and Racing. Months later, won the Torneo Internacional de Chile against Colombian Millonarios and Chilean Colo-Colo. In July, the team won the Torneio Octogonal Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer, a tournament between Brazilian and European clubs. In 1956, Ademir de Menezes left Vasco. After winning the 1956 Campeonato Carioca, Vasco went on a tour of South America and Europe, and was called "the best South American team" by European newspapers. Vasco was chosen to participate in the 1957 Tournoi de Paris, in which they beat European champions Real Madrid in the final 4–3 in front of more than 65,000 spectators. This was the first time that a South American champion and a European champion faced each other (Vasco for the 1948 South American Championship and Real Madrid for the 1955–56 European Cup). The newspaper France Soir stated after the tournament: "Real Madrid is not the greatest team in the world. Talk to Vasco da Gama about that", and the Jornal dos Sports cited Vasco as "world champions". In 2023, FIFA recognized as "the most notable meeting between teams from two continents meeting before 1960".

In 1971, young Roberto Dinamite rose from Vasco's academy to the professional team. Roberto Dinamite would be instrumental in leading the team in winning the 1974 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Vasco da Gama's first national title, in which he finished as the tournament's top scorer with 16 goals. This achievement qualified Vasco to compete in their first Copa Libertadores in 1975, in which they did not have a good campaign. Roberto also helped Vasco win the 1977 Campeonato Carioca, beating Zico's Flamengo in a final playoff match. There a rivalry between Roberto and Zico would begin on the field, although off the field they were very friends. In 1978, Vasco fell in the semi-finals of the 1978 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, but Paulinho would have finished as the tournament's top scorer with 19 goals. That year, the famous song by the Vasco fans emerged that "Vasco é o time da virada, Vasco é o time do amor" (Vasco is the team of the turnaround, Vasco is the team of love), inspired by a Beija-Flor samba. The song would be copied by other fans, such as Santos, Palmeiras and Atlético Mineiro.

In 1982, Vasco would win the Campeonato Carioca again, with coach Antônio Lopes removing seven starters players from the team in the final due to lack of commitment. In this tournament, Roberto scored the 500th goal of his career. Vasco lost the 1984 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A final to its rival Fluminense. In the next year, Romário made his debut, another youth player who would go on to be successful in the professional team. Romário began to form an attacking partnership with Roberto Dinamite, named by fans as "Ro-Ro". Roberto said he had to change his playing style, moving from playing as a center forward to being a second striker who helped Romário score goals, since he was getting older and Romário was younger and faster. Roberto Dinamite was top scorer of the 1985 Campeonato Carioca with 12 goals, and Romário was second with 11. Afterwards, Romário would be the top scorer in the 1986 and 1987 editions, with Roberto second in both, this last edition won by Vasco da Gama, in addition to also winning the 1988 edition. At the end of 1988, Romário was sold to PSV Eindhoven from Netherlands, being at the time the most expensive Brazilian signing by a foreign club.

In the 1989 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Roberto Dinamite had lost space in the team and was loaned to Portuguesa. Roberto played against Vasco during the championship, in a game that ended 0–0, in which he says he "wouldn't like to have that afternoon". Vasco remade the squad, signing a series of nationally renowned players, becoming known as SeleVasco (in reference to the word "seleção", used in Portuguese to designate a national team), as the team was considered a true national team. The big highlight was the player Bebeto, hired precisely from the great rival, Flamengo. Vasco defeated São Paulo in the final 1–0, with a goal from Sorato, and became two-time Brazilian champion.

The 1990s began with the victory of three consecutive Campeonato Carioca in 1992, 1993 and 1994. These achievements were important for Vasco as he was the only one among the Rio de Janeiro's Big Four who had not yet achieved the feat. In the 1997 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the club would win its third national league title, with a team led by the competition's then top scorer Edmundo, with 29 goals, the historical record of the tournament before the era of round-robin system. Edmundo became known to the fans as "O Animal" (The Animal) and the team as "Esquadrão Imortal" (Immortal Squad), which also included Juninho Pernambucano, Felipe, Pedrinho, goalkeeper Carlos Germano, among others. In 1998, in the club's centenary year, Eurico Miranda signed the largest contract in the history of Brazilian football at the time between Vasco and NationsBank (currently Bank of America), in which the latter would exploit the club's brand. This contract allowed Vasco to have one of the most expensive squads in Brazilian football. The team won the Campeonato Carioca, as well as its first Copa Libertadores, defeating Barcelona SC in the final 4–1 on aggregate. The joy of the centenary was not complete only because of the losses to Real Madrid in the 1998 Intercontinental Cup and D.C. United in the 1998 Interamerican Cup. In 1999, Vasco won its third Torneio Rio–São Paulo title.

At the end of the decade, in 2000, Romário would return to play for Vasco after a spell at arch-rivals Flamengo. Romário would help Vasco win some titles this year. Starting with the 2000 Copa Mercosur, in a final game that became known as "A Virada do Século" (The Turn of the Century), as Vasco reversed a 0–3 score in the first half to 4–3 against Palmeiras, with Romário's hat-trick. The team also won its fourth national title, the 2000 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, in a final against São Caetano. During the second leg in the final, held at São Januário, the stadium fence collapsed, but no one was injured. The teams were ready to restart the match; however, Governor Anthony Garotinho intervened and ordered the match canceled. The following day, TV Globo ran a report distorting the incident, highlighting Eurico ejecting injured players from the field and calling for the match to restart immediately after the accident, which never happened. In 2023, in the documentary A Mão do Eurico, TV Globo admitted it "made a mistake" regarding the footage in the report. In the rescheduled match at Maracanã, Eurico printed the logo of SBT (TV Globo's rival network) on Vasco's shirt. Globo management, taken by surprise, was enraged. The entire game was broadcast this way on Globo, with Vasco winning the championship. From then on, tensions between Eurico and the network grew, which would affect the club in the following years. Globo decided to apply a financial tourniquet to the club, blocking TV subscriptions for 18 months.

Vasco already had one of the highest payrolls in world football and was successful in several sports, including basketball and futsal. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Vasco had its largest delegation of athletes—at least 175—and was responsible for more medals than Brazil team itself, making it the most represented Brazilian club in the competition. Playing in multiple sports was part of Eurico Mirando's strategy to strengthen the Vasco brand. The club spent about 25% of its budget on Olympic sports. Additionally, during this period, the club purchased approximately 14,000 m² of land around São Januário for future stadium renovation and expansion. In November 2000, with the support of then president Antônio Soares Calçada, Eurico Miranda was elected president of the club for the first time in its history. During his first term, Eurico faced a severe financial crisis, particularly due to the break with Bank of America. The North American bank breached its contract with Vasco da Gama and failed to invest US$12 million in late 2000. Vasco then took legal action to break the agreement and won the case against the bank. However, the high payroll could not be maintained, and part of the team was dismantled in 2001. In 2008, Vasco was relegated to Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, for the first time in the club's history. The fall happened after a 2–0 defeat to EC Vitória, in Rio de Janeiro, in the last matchday of the league. Vasco won the 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B and return to compete in the first division again in 2010. That year, 2009, 16-year-old Philippe Coutinho made his professional debut, which helped the team win the competition.

Vasco's 2010s began looking like things would improve for the club, with them winning the 2011 Copa do Brasil, defeating Coritiba in the final. The team also finished as runner-up in the 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro, behind Corinthians. Many fans and players from that team contested the match against Flamengo on the last matchday of that year which, according to them, had crucial refereeing errors that denied Vasco the title. A while later, the referee of that match, Péricles Bassols, admitted his mistakes when refereeing the game. After a good season in 2012, Vasco started their 2013 poorly and were hampered by financial issues. In the Taca Rio, the club had a terrible campaign and finished seventh of eight in the table. By the end of the year, the club had been relegated for the second time in 5 years and just the second time in their history, which was secured with a 5–1 defeat to Atletico Paranaense on the final matchday. In the Copa do Brasil the team entered in the round of 16, beating Nacional and then being eliminated by Goiás on away goals, despite winning the second leg 3–2. After one season in the Série B during 2014, Vasco gained promotion and in May 2015 won the Campeonato Carioca after a 12-year hiatus. However, they were relegated again in the 2015 edition, placing eighteenth. In 2016, Vasco became back-to-back Carioca champions and had a 34-match unbeaten streak, their longest in official games. Once again, they were promoted after one season in Série B. However, in the 2020 season, they were relegated for the fourth time and then failed to gain promotion during the 2021 season, placing tenth.

On 22 February 2022 it was announced that 777 Partners, a Miami-based private investment firm founded by Steven W. Pasko and Josh Wander, bought a controlling stake in Vasco da Gama. According to the terms of the deal, 777 Partners acquired a 70% stake in the club which was valued at approximately $330 million.