The introduction of the FIFA World Cup in 1930 helped elevate the presence of Uruguayan football, including Peñarol; several members of the team were products of the club.

[10] In international competition, Peñarol is the third-highest Copa Libertadores winner, having won it on five editions (1960, 1961, 1966, 1982, and 1987), and shares the record for Intercontinental Cup victories with three (1961, 1966, and 1982).

[18] In 1900 the CURCC was one of four charter members of the Uruguay Association Football League,[19] making its debut in official competition on 10 June against Albion and winning 2–1.

CURCC had lost 2–3 on the road, and believed their poor showing was due to refereeing mistakes caused by pressure from rabid home fans.

As a sign of good faith, Nacional also retired from the league, since both teams agreed that "Los Partidos se ganan en la Cancha", or "matches are won on the pitch".

[19] Back in competition the following year, relations between the CUR and the club became frostier after fans burned a train car used for rival teams.

[25] In 1927, Peñarol made its first tour to Europe, playing a total of 19 matches against teams from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Czechoslovakia and France.

[26] After its first European tour in 1927, Peñarol won the Uruguayan championship in 1928 and 1929; the following year, the club defeated Olimpia 1–0 in its first game at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo.

[28] In 1945 the club retained the title, with Nicolás Falero and Raúl Schiaffino the top goal scorers of the playoffs with 21 apiece.

[41] That year the club won its second Intercontinental Cup, defeating Real Madrid 2–0 in Centenario Stadium and Santiago Bernabéu.

After beginning the 1980s with a third-place finish in 1981, Peñarol won the Uruguayan Championship with Fernando Morena and Rubén Paz (the tournament's top scorer).

With Pablo Bengoechea and the young Antonio Pacheco on the team and Gregorio Pérez behind the bench, Peñarol again won the Uruguayan championship five straight times (1993–97).

[citation needed] The next year, Peñarol lost the Uruguayan championship final against Nacional; many of the team's players were jailed after a tournament fight.

[57] Peñarol inspired Romanian club FC Brașov to change its official colors in December 1966 from white and blue to yellow and black.

Györffy was fascinated by the combination of yellow and black stripes and decided at the return in the country to wear the shirt during his training sessions with the team.

[59] Because Peñarol was not allowed to play there due to security concerns,[61] the club home ground was the city owned Estadio Centenario.

[69] The Frank Henderson School, named in honor of the club's first president, is a few kilometers away from the Centro de Alto Rendimiento.

[78] Including the amateur and professional eras, league and friendly games, the teams have met 511 times in the past with 182 victories to Peñarol, 166 to Nacional and 163 ties.

[78] A notable game for Peñarol fans is occurred on 9 October 1949 in the Uruguayan Cup first round, and is known as the Clásico de la fuga (the "escape derby").

[84] After raising $35,000 in raffles and donations, on 12 April 2011 Peñarol fans unveiled the largest flag ever unfurled in a stadium up to that moment.

[87] Five Peñarol players were on the Uruguayan squad which won the 1930 FIFA World Cup: goalkeeper Miguel Capuccini, defender Peregrino Anselmo and midfielders Lorenzo Fernández, Álvaro Gestido and Carlos Riolfo.

[88] Peñarol had nine players on the Uruguayan squad which won the 1950 FIFA World Cup: goalkeeper Roque Máspoli, defenders Juan Carlos González and Washington Ortuño, midfielders Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Obdulio Varela and forwards Ernesto Vidal, Julio César Britos, Óscar Míguez and Alcides Ghiggia.

The first manager was Leonardo de Luca, who coached the team for two years and won the Uruguayan Championship (the first professional tournament in Uruguay) in 1932.

Of these 62 managers, 53 were Uruguayan; two were Hungarian (Emérico Hirschl and Béla Guttmann), two British (John Harley and Randolph Galloway), one Serbian (Ljupko Petrović), two Brazilian (Osvaldo Brandão and Dino Sani), one from Chile (Mario Tuane) and two from Argentina (Jorge Kistenmacher and César Luis Menotti).

[91][95] Honorary Peñarol played 26 seasons of the Uruguay Association Football League, from its creation in 1900 until the end of the amateur era in 1931 (absent 1923–26, when the club was disaffiliated from the AUF).

[102] The club placed second in 1923 (when they scored a record 100 goals), and won in 1924; its most impressive victory was a 10–0 win over Roberto Cherry during the cancelled 1925 season.

On the international scene, its best result was an 11–2 win over Valencia of Venezuela on 15 March 1970; its worst was against Olimpia of Paraguay, a 0–6 loss on 10 December 1990 during the Supercopa Sudamericana.

The organization awarded points for each victory in a quarterfinal or higher in international competition but only took into account games played after 1932 for the Professional era.

Although the team rode well during its early years, it was not until the ninth edition (in 1952) that a Peñarol cyclist would win the race (Dante Sudatti, with an overall time of 48 hours, 38 minutes and 38 seconds).

[119] In the second half of the same month, Peñarol won one of the three groups of five teams, that formed the qualification tournament to the "Super Liga", name given to the Uruguayan Championship of the discipline.