 In 1939 the club achieved its best result, ending up fourth, only behind champions Corinthians, Palestra Itália, today's Palmeiras, and Portuguesa.In 1943 Nacional won the Torneio Início, a traditional pre-season tournament of short matches between the first division teams held over a day or two.Nacional's Passarinho was, jointly with Servilio from Corinthians, top scorer of the 1945 season.