On November 28th, 2016, Colombian media reported that a plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team went down in Medellin Colombia. The crash didn't raise much attention until more journalists began to report about the brutality of the accident. In the series of news coverage, it was found that there were six survivors and 76 dead. Jaws dropped after hearing the story of Chapecoenese, a team from the small city of Chapeco, that was heading to its first ever cup final.

In the Brazilian league, all the teams would be big rivals to each other, whether they were going for the title or just city rivals. Chapecoenese was a different story. This is a team that came up to the Brazilian first division in 2014, only as recently as 2009 were playing in the lowest division of Brazilian soccer. They were dubbed to be a "Brazilian Leicester City" with their meteoric rise to the first division, and they were holding steady. They had also just reached their first ever cup final, reaching the final of the Copa Sudamerica with their goalkeeper Danilo becoming a national hero with a superb save in the semi-final, but, unfortunately, like many of his teammates, he did not survive the crash.

Chapacoense's opponent in the cup final, Atletico Nacional, immediately requested that Chapacoense be handed the trophy as a sign of respect. All the fellow teams of Brazil agreed that they would loan players to Chapocoense for free and that Chapocoense would not be allowed to drop out of the top divison for the next three years in order to help the club rebuild. All teams around the world held a moment of silence to remember the lost ones of the crash. Many players and clubs paid their tribute, and it was a incident that brought the soccer world together with many different players giving tearful messages about some of their former teammates. Even the players that were injured and were unable to make the flight sat there in horror along with the tearful fans that packed the stadium to pay their tributes.