Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on 26 March 1924.

The team's most important titles have been winning the 2001 Série A, the Copa Sudamericana in 2018 and 2021, making it the only team from Paraná to win international titles. It won the Copa do Brasil in 2019. In the Copa Libertadores, they have finished runner-up twice, in 2005 and 2022.

They are considered the strongest team in Brazil outside of the Big 12, at times even surpassing them.

Club Athletico Paranaense traces its roots to the 1912 founding of the International Football Club and the 1914 founding of the América Futebol Clube, two traditional Curitiba clubs. The clubs merged in 26 March 1924 100 years ago to form CAP. The club's first match, a friendly one, was played on 6 April, when Athletico Paranaense beat Universal FC 4–2. The following year, Athletico Paranaense won its first title, the Campeonato Paranaense. In 1929 it won its second state title, before adding a third and the club's first back to back championship.

In the 1983 Serie A, Athletico had a great season, finishing fourth in the league. However, the club struggled in the 1986 and 1988 seasons, which eventually culminated in the club's relegation to the Série B for the first time in history in 1989. In the 1990 season they made the second division finals, losing to Sport Recife due to Sport having a better season record, after a draw on aggregate. Despite the loss, they still earned promotion to the 1991 Série A, where they struggled but ultimately earned their permanence in the top flight for the following season.

The 1992 season was slightly better, with the club finishing fifteenth in the Serie A. However, the following season was worse, with the club suffering another relegation, their second in four years. In the 1994 Série B, the club was eliminated in the third stage and was not promoted. In the 1995 Série B, Athletico won their first major title in history, the second division title, and was promoted to the 1996 Serie A. Back in the top flight, Furacão had a good campaign, finishing fourth in the regular season and qualifying to the quarter finals.

In 1999, the club inaugurated their new stadium, Arena da Baixada, which was built on the same ground as their old stadium. Also that year, Athletico won a Pre-Libertadores tournament, which was only played in 1999, due to CONMEBOL expanding the tournament from 24 to 32 teams, so Brazil's fifth place had to be defined. Athletico beat powerhouses Internacional, Sao Paulo, and then Cruzeiro in the finals to earn their first Libertadores participation in history.

In the 2000 Copa Libertadores, the club began their campaign in excellent form, topping their group undefeated, with their only draw coming against Nacional; they also won their first match on 16 February 2000, a 3–0 victory in Peru against Alianza Lima. Expectations were high for the knockout rounds, with Athletico being the #2 seed in the competition behind Colombian champions América de Cali; however, Furacão was eliminated by fellow Brazilians Atletico Mineiro in the knockout stage, losing on penalties after a 2–2 draw on aggregate.