Chapecoense was set to play the Colombian club team Atletico Nacional in the the first leg of the South American cup Finals on Wednesday.
The team, which is ninth in Brazil's Serie A league, has surprised many with its performance in the tournament this year --
ESPNFC billed their semifinal contest as a David versus Goliath match.
"It's a Cinderella football story. They've only been in the top division in Brazil for the last couple of years, and they've reached the Copa Sudamericana final," Keir Radnedge of World Soccer Magazine told CNN. "What they have achieved in the last couple of years was just amazing."
The team said in a post on its Facebook page that it was waiting for an official announcement from Colombian aviation authorities before issuing its own statement about the crash.
The lesser-known club was founded in 1973 and has steadily risen up the ranks in recent years.
Team officials like to say that they've succeeded due to good management and a strategic vision,
says Plus55, a Brazilian news site.
"Few remembered the name of this forgotten team,"
CONMEBOL said of Chapecoense. Now the whole continent knows it."
The team, whose stadium wasn't even big enough to host a final by CONMEBOL (the governing body for soccer in South America) regulations, was vying to become the first Brazilian club to win the South American Cup final since 2008.
Nacional tweeted it "deeply regrets and is in solidarity with Chapecoense for the accident that occurred is awaiting for more information from the authorities."
CONMEBOL said in a statement that it has been notified about the accident and has suspended all confederation activities.
Its president, Alejandro Dominguez, is on his way to Medellin, the statement said.