In less than a year, the Maracanã will return to the center of world football by hosting nine Women's World Cup matches, including the opening and final. However, around the stadium, women's football lives a paradox: while Rio teams are a reference in youth football, in the professional realm they coexist with structural limitations, fluctuations in investment and competition from more established projects in São Paulo.
Recent results demonstrate this reality. Since the creation of Copinha feminina, all titles have stayed in Rio, won by Flamengo in 2023 and 2025, and by Fluminense in 2024. In the 2025 Brasileirão Sub-20, the final was a classic between Botafogo and Flamengo, with the black and white team taking the title. In May of this year, Flamengo won the title again by defeating São Paulo in the final.
The landscape changes significantly in the women's football elite. In the first phase of this year's Brasileirão A1, São Paulo, Corinthians, Palmeiras and Ferroviária occupied the top positions. Flamengo, in fifth place, was the only Rio club to advance to the next phases, evidencing the distance between success in youth football and performance in the professional game.
