Luverdense · History

Luverdense Esporte Clube is a football club from Lucas do Rio Verde, in the north of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, founded on 24 January 2004 as a non-profit association. In under ten years it climbed from state football to Série B, Brazil’s second tier, where it played from 2014 to 2017. In 2025 it returned to national competition in Série D. The club is known as Verdão do Norte, Verdão do Centro-Oeste or simply LEC. Its mascots are a corn cob and a rhea, both nods to the farming region it comes from.

Founding and first trophies

The club was born in a city built on grain production, and its first trophy came in its founding year: the 2004 Copa Governador de Mato Grosso, the tournament later renamed Copa FMF. Luverdense won it again in 2007 and 2011. The first Mato Grosso state championship followed in 2009, and a second in 2012. In the 2010 Série C, its first national campaign of any weight, the team finished ninth.

The 2013 Copa do Brasil and promotion

Until then the Copa do Brasil had been brief for Luverdense, with first-round exits against Coritiba in 2010 and Paraná Clube in 2012. That changed in 2013. The club knocked out Tupi, Bahia and Fortaleza to reach the round of 16, where Corinthians ended the run. Later that year the team finished Série C among the four clubs that earned promotion to Série B.

Four seasons in Série B

Luverdense made its second-tier debut in 2014. It then settled into mid-table, finishing tenth in 2015 and ninth in 2016, its best position at that level. In 2016 it also won its third state championship. The Estádio Municipal Passo das Emas, which holds about 10,000 people and takes its name from a 2004 municipal law, was renovated to host Série B matches in 2017. That season ended in relegation, sealed on 17 November 2017 by a goalless draw with Guarani.

The 2017 Copa Verde

The year of the drop also brought the club’s only interregional title. In the 2017 Copa Verde final Luverdense faced Paysandu, who were chasing a second straight crown. Luverdense won the first leg 3-1 in Cuiabá on 4 May. The return leg, played on 16 May at the Mangueirão in Belém in front of 26,653 spectators, finished 1-1, and the trophy went to Mato Grosso on a 4-2 aggregate. In that year’s Copa do Brasil, Corinthians eliminated the club in the third round.

From Série C to Série D

In 2018 Luverdense played in Série C and again reached the Copa do Brasil round of 16. There it met Santos, who won 5-1 at Vila Belmiro on 10 May; Luverdense took the return leg 2-1 in Lucas do Rio Verde on 17 May, but Santos went through 6-3 on aggregate. In 2019 Fluminense knocked the club out in the third round of the cup. The second relegation came that same year: a 3-1 home defeat to Paysandu at the Passo das Emas on 15 August 2019 sent Luverdense down to Série D for 2020. In 2019 the club also lifted its fourth Copa FMF. In August 2020 it withdrew from Série D, citing the covid-19 pandemic.

Youth teams, rivals and return

At youth level Luverdense won the Mato Grosso under-19 championship in 2014 and 2015, the under-15 title in 2016 and the under-17 title in 2017. Its rivalries are regional: the Clássico do Ouro-Verde against Cuiabá, the Clássico da Soja against Sorriso, the Clássico do Norte against Sinop and the Clássico dos Grãos against Nova Mutum. After several seasons confined to the state calendar, the club returned to the national championship in the 2025 Série D.