Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas is a Brazilian multimodality sportive association from Rio de Janeiro. Its football team, placed 12th in FIFA Clubs of the 20th Century. The club symbol is the lone star, represented on its badge. Botafogo means (he who) sets fire and is also the name of the neighbourhood where the club has its origins (Botafogo Beach). It is nicknamed "Fogo", "Bota" (breakdowns of the club's name), "Fogão" (augmentative of "Fogo", largely used), "Alvinegro" (White-black), "O clube da Estrela Solitária" (The Lone Star club, reference to the club's major symbol), and "O Glorioso" (The Glorious, nickname given after 1910's astonishing campaign)

Botafogo FR is one of the biggest clubs in Brazil and one of the four major football clubs in Rio de Janeiro along with Flamengo, Fluminense (most ancient rivalry in Brazil: October 22, 1905), and Vasco.

After winning the Rio de Janeiro Championship in 1989, 1990, and 1997, the international Copa Conmebol (now called Copa Sudamericana) in 1993, and the Brazilian League in 1995, Botafogo would be relegated to the Second Division after ranking last in the Brazilian League of 2002. In 2003, Botafogo ranked second in Brazil's Second division (after Palmeiras) and returned to the First Division.

Despite its origins, the club had played in the neighbouring city of Niterói (much like some "New York" teams actually play in New Jersey) since it rented the Caio Martins stadium (or Mestre Ziza stadium, a modest venue with 15,000 seats) until 2003. This stadium is currently used for some training sessions. In 2007, the club got state-of-the-art João Havelange Olympic Stadium, simply know as Engenhão. The stadium, build to Rio 2007 PanAm Games and then conceded to Botafogo FR, is widely considered the best in all South America.