Grenal
Rivalry between Brazilian football clubs Grêmio and Internacional
title: "Grenal" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["football-derbies-in-brazil", "grêmio-fbpa", "sc-internacional", "nicknames-in-association-football", "football-in-porto-alegre", "portuguese-words-and-phrases", "1909-establishments-in-brazil", "recurring-sporting-events-established-in-1909"] description: "Rivalry between Brazilian football clubs Grêmio and Internacional" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenal" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Rivalry between Brazilian football clubs Grêmio and Internacional ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox sports rivalry"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Grenal |
| image | GRENAL (8248127406).jpg |
| caption | A Grenal being contested at the Estádio Olímpico Monumental in 2012 |
| team1logo | Gremio logo.svg |
| team2logo | Sport Club Internacional logo.svg |
| team1 | Grêmio |
| team2 | Internacional |
| other names | Gre-Nal |
| city or region | Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
| teams involved | Grêmio |
| Internacional | |
| firstmeeting | 18 July 1909 |
| Friendly match | |
| Grêmio 10–0 Internacional | |
| mostrecent | 21 September 2025 |
| Brasileirão Série A | |
| Internacional 2–3 Grêmio | |
| stadiums | Arena do Grêmio (Grêmio) |
| Beira-Rio (Internacional) | |
| total | 448 |
| top scorer | Carlitos (40) |
| alltimerecord | Internacional: 165 |
| Draws: 141 | |
| Grêmio: 142 | |
| :: |
| name = Grenal | image = GRENAL (8248127406).jpg | caption = A Grenal being contested at the Estádio Olímpico Monumental in 2012 | team1logo = Gremio logo.svg | team2logo = Sport Club Internacional logo.svg | team1 = Grêmio | team2 = Internacional | other names = Gre-Nal | city or region = Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | teams involved = Grêmio Internacional | firstmeeting = 18 July 1909 Friendly match Grêmio 10–0 Internacional | mostrecent = 21 September 2025 Brasileirão Série A Internacional 2–3 Grêmio | nextmeeting = | stadiums = Arena do Grêmio (Grêmio) Beira-Rio (Internacional) | total = 448 | top scorer = Carlitos (40) | alltimerecord = Internacional: 165 Draws: 141 Grêmio: 142 ::data[format=table]
| {{football kit | pattern_la = _lightblue_black_white | pattern_b = _lightblue_black_white | pattern_ra = _lightblue_black_white | pattern_sh = | pattern_so = | leftarm = 60B1FF | body = 60B1FF | rightarm = 60B1FF | shorts = 000000 | socks = FFFFFF | title = Grêmio | {{football kit | pattern_la = | pattern_b = | pattern_ra = | pattern_sh = | pattern_so = | leftarm = FF0000 | body = FF0000 | rightarm = FF0000 | shorts = FFFFFF | socks = FFFFFF | title = Internacional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
The Grenal (also Gre-Nal, plural Grenais) is the rivalry between the biggest football clubs in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, Grêmio and Internacional. Ongoing since 1909, it is usually contested in the Gauchão, the Rio Grande do Sul state championship that both teams have won regularly since 1940, and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top-level national championship.
Being among the fiercest football derbies in Brazil, South America and the world, Grenais are considered a key cultural aspect of the Southern region of Brazil and particularly Rio Grande do Sul. High levels of emotion, competition and occasional violence accompany such matches.
In December 2020, FourFourTwo ranked the Grenal as the football world's 8th biggest derby.
History
Many well-known players have contested the Grenal, including Everaldo, Tesourinha, Aírton, Falcão, Éder, Valdomiro, Renato Gaúcho, Cláudio Taffarel, Dunga, Emerson, Carlos Gamarra, Ronaldinho, Elías Figueroa, Andrés D'Alessandro, Lucas Leiva, Marcelo Moreno, Nilmar, Pedro Geromel, Oscar, Walter Kannemann, Alexandre Pato, Alisson Becker, Arthur Melo, Everton Soares, Douglas Costa, Taison, Fernandão, Diego Forlán, Diego Costa and Luis Suárez, as well as world-famous coaches like Luiz Felipe Scolari, Abel Braga, Renato Gaúcho, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Telê Santana, Rubens Minelli, Valdir Espinosa, Paulo César Carpegiani and Ênio Andrade.
The first Grenal
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Programa_I_Grenal.jpg" caption="[[Matchday programme]] of the first Grenal in 1909"] ::
On June 21, 1909, four representatives of Internacional met with their Grêmio equivalents in the Leopoldina Portoalegrense building to arrange the first meeting between the two clubs. Internacional, founded two months before, invited Grêmio to be its first opponents. The first match was held on June 27. With a game of previously arranged, Grêmio's president, Major Augusto Koch said that his team would face Internacional with the second table (reserve team). The leaders of Internacional demanded that their opponents played with their first team. Grêmio's board agreed. However, as the club's fixture list was full, the game would be held only in the following month.
The first Grenal occurred on Sunday, July 18, 1909, at Grêmio's Baixada Stadium. At 15:10, both teams entered the field of Baixada, preceded by the Presidents and the military band of the Brigade. The Grêmio players wore Sorority shirts divided vertically in half blue and half white, with black shorts. Internacional wore vertically striped shirts in red and white, with white shorts. The audience was estimated to be at 2000.
The referee was Waldemar Bromberg, assisted by João de Castro e Silva and H. Sommer, as well as "goal judges" Theobaldo Foernges Bugs and Theodoro. As there were no nets, said goal judges sat on a stool beside the goals indicating whether the ball had entered the goal or not.
After 10 minutes, Edgar Booth scored the first goal of the game and in the history of the derby. Edgar Booth went on to score four more goals. Four goals were scored by Júlio Grünewald and one by Moreira. The match ended at 10–0 to Grêmio, the biggest win in the history of Grenal.
Grenal of the Century
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Grenal_1940.jpg" caption="Grenal in 1940 for the Porto Alegre City Championship"] ::
This match took place at Beira-Rio Stadium on February 12, 1989, being the 297th confrontation between these rival clubs, and it is called "Grenal of the Century" due to its unprecedented importance: it was the second leg of the semi-finals of 1988 Brazilian Championship, soon after the first leg, played at Olímpico Stadium, had ended with no goals.
Both teams came from great campaigns in the league. Internacional had a slight advantage, for if the match ended in a draw, Inter would qualify for the finals and 1989 Copa Libertadores. Teasers and agitation ruled in Porto Alegre.
The attendance was 78,083, in spite of the scorching heat of the summer afternoon: the thermometers marked 40 °C (104 °F).
Grêmio started the match playing better and, at the end of the first half, was winning the match by 1–0 with a goal scored by Marcus Vinicius at 25 minutes. With the red card showed to Inter's right back Casemiro at 38 minutes by referee Arnaldo Cézar Coelho, Grêmio's victory seemed very close.
Inter got better in the second half. At 61 minutes, a free kick favored Inter. Midfielder Edu Lima crossed the ball and Nílson, top scorer of the league, scored to make the match even.
It was Inter who kept pressing, and minutes after, in a counter-attack from the right side, midfielder Maurício passed through two defenders and shot. The ball was going to miss the goal when Nílson appeared behind the back of Grêmio's defense, to score again.
Internacional won the "Grenal of the Century" and qualified to the final match against Esporte Clube Bahia.
Other matches
The 435th Grenal, due to be held on Saturday, February 26, 2022, was postponed after fans of Internacional attacked Grêmio's bus with iron bars and rocks, which left Paraguayan Mathías Villasanti with a concussion. This would become the first-ever instance of a Grenal's postponement.
State rivalry
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Gre-nal.jpg" caption="Grenal in 2007"] ::
The rivalry of the Grenal reaches beyond football; it is a cultural reference for the Gaúchos. Football fans residing in Porto Alegre and rest the state of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as in much of Santa Catarina, Western Paraná and Northern Uruguay, identify strongly with either club, according to entrenched familial, cultural and social-demographic factors.
Grêmio was founded in 1903 by German immigrants from the Porto Alegre's industrious and commercial upper middle-class, mainly from the northern neighbourhoods from the city, who initially banned poor non-German players. Inter was founded by the children of Italian immigrants, in a meeting at the Second District, a bohemian, commercial and college neighborhood, so most of the first Inter players and supporters came from this reality: students from inner Rio Grande do Sul, Italian and Azorean immigrants that lived on the place. Inter has accepted black players since the early 1930s, while Grêmio only accepted black players such as Ronaldinho and Everaldo since the 1950s.
Statistics
Head to head results
::data[format=table] | Competition | Matches | Wins | Draws | GRE | INT | Campeonato Gaúcho | Campeonato Citadino | Copa Sul | Campeonato Sul-Brasileiro | Copa Sul-Minas | Primeira Liga | Campeonato Brasileiro Série A | Copa do Brasil | Seletiva Nacional da Libertadores | Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores | Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana | Other friendly tournaments and games | All matches | 448 || 142 || 165 || 141 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | 180 | 55 | 60 | 65 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 102 | 39 | 44 | 19 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 74 | 25 | 26 | 23 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 76 | 20 | 33 | 23 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
Record by decade
::data[format=table] | Decade | Matches | Grêmio wins | Inter wins | Draws | Total | 448 | 142 | 165 | 141 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1901–1909 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 1910–1919 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | | | | | | | 1920–1929 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | | | | | | | 1930–1939 | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | | | | | | | 1940–1949 | 49 | 7 | 32 | 10 | | | | | | | 1950–1959 | 40 | 11 | 16 | 13 | | | | | | | 1960–1969 | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | | | | | | | 1970–1979 | 59 | 12 | 24 | 23 | | | | | | | 1980–1989 | 50 | 16 | 13 | 21 | | | | | | | 1990–1999 | 43 | 14 | 12 | 17 | | | | | | | 2000–2009 | 34 | 10 | 13 | 11 | | | | | | | 2010–2019 | 44 | 13 | 14 | 17 | | | | | | | 2020–2029 | 25 | 10 | 9 | 7 | | | | | | ::
Head-to-head ranking in the Campeonato Brasileiro (2003–present)
::data[format=table]
| P. | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | 5 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | 7 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Série B | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| :: |
• Total: Internacional 12 times higher, Grêmio 11 times higher.
Doing the double in the Campeonato Brasileiro (2003–present)
::data[format=table title=""]
| Season | Team | Home result | Away result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Internacional | 2–0 | 1–3 |
| 2007 | Grêmio | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| 2024 | Internacional | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| :: |
Records
Largest wins
::data[format=table title=""]
| Winning margin | Result | Date | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Grêmio 10–0 Internacional | 18 July 1909 | Friendly match |
| 9 | Internacional 1–10 Grêmio | 18 June 1911 | Campeonato Citadino |
| 7 | Grêmio 0–7 Internacional | 17 October 1948 | Campeonato Citadino |
| 6 | Grêmio 6–0 Internacional | 23 June 1912 | Campeonato Citadino |
| Grêmio 0–6 Internacional | 1 November 1938 | Taça Martel | |
| 5 | Grêmio 5–0 Internacional | 17 July 1910 | Campeonato Citadino |
| Internacional 6–1 Grêmio | 30 July 1916 | Campeonato Citadino | |
| Grêmio 1–6 Internacional | 4 January 1940 | Campeonato Citadino | |
| Grêmio 5–0 Internacional | 9 August 2015 | Campeonato Brasileiro | |
| :: |
Longest unbeaten runs
::data[format=table title=""]
| Games | Club | Period | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Internacional | 17 October 1971 – 13 July 1975 | 10 wins and 7 draws |
| 16 | Internacional | 1 May 1947 – 7 September 1949 | 11 wins and 5 draws |
| 13 | Grêmio | 16 June 1999 – 26 October 2002 | 8 wins and 5 draws |
| 12 | Internacional | 11 January 1942 – 28 May 1944 | 9 wins and 3 draws |
| Grêmio | 31 May 1987 – 9 February 1989 | 6 wins and 6 draws | |
| 11 | Internacional | 17 August 1952 – 9 January 1955 | 7 wins and 4 draws |
| Grêmio | 17 March 2019 – 3 October 2020 | 6 wins and 5 draws | |
| :: |
Most consecutive wins
::data[format=table] | url=https://internacional.com.br/clube/grenais|title=Lista de todos GreNais da História|website=Sport Club Internacional|language=pt-BR|access-date=10 June 2025}} | Club | Period | |---|---|---| | 6 | Grêmio | 18 July 1909 – 8 June 1913 | | Grêmio | 14 September 1919 – 27 April 1924 | | | Grêmio | 28 July 1931 – 13 August 1933 | | | Grêmio | 14 August 1977 – 20 August 1978 | | | 5 | Internacional | 11 July 1943 – 28 May 1944 | | Internacional | 1 May 1947 – 26 October 1947 | | | Internacional | 1 November 1953 – 26 September 1954 | | | Internacional | 24 March 1974 – 13 July 1975 | | ::
All-time top scorers
::data[format=table title=""]
| Goals | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | Carlitos | Internacional |
| 21 | Villalba | Internacional |
| 18 | Luiz Carvalho | Grêmio |
| 16 | Adãozinho | Internacional |
| Tesourinha | Internacional | |
| 12 | Alcindo | Grêmio |
| 11 | Acácio | Internacional |
| Bodinho | Internacional | |
| Foguinho | Grêmio | |
| :: |
Highest attendances
- At the Beira-Rio Stadium (Internacional): Internacional 1–1 Grêmio; 85,075; 30 May 1971; Campeonato Gaúcho.
- At the Olímpico Stadium (Grêmio): Grêmio 1–1 Internacional, 72,893; 29 November 1981; Campeonato Gaúcho.
- At the Arena do Grêmio (Grêmio): Grêmio 0–0 Internacional, 53,389; 12 March 2020; Copa Libertadores.
Honours
::data[format=table]
;Notes
References
References
- Lane, Barnaby. "Stabbings, mass brawls, and a mid-match death: Inside 'Grenal' — Brazilian soccer's fiercest derby match".
- December 2020, Greg Lea 12. "Ranked! The 50 biggest derbies in world football".
- "Gremio bus attacked & windows smashed by rival Internacional fans as Mathias Villasanti needs hospital treatment {{!}} Goal.com".
- (2022-02-27). "Gre-Nal is postponed after Grêmio's bus is hit by stones and player is injured {{!}} Rio Grande do Sul - The Goa Spotlight".
- (September 25, 2015). "Map of largest football fanbases in Brazil".
- (August 30, 2011). "Largest football fan bases of Santa Catarina".
- (October 23, 2019). "Familial tradition: father of twins encourage his sons' love for Grêmio".
- (December 16, 2006). "Internacional, the People's Club.".
- "Sport Club Internacional".
- "Números dos Grenais por Décadas".
- "Lista das Maiores Goleadas em Grenais".
- "Lista de todos GreNais da História".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::