The
Brazil national football team is the national team
of Brazil
and is
managed by the Brazilian Football
Confederation (CBF) that represents Brazil in international
football competitions. They are the most successful national
football team in the history of the
World
Cup, with five championships (
1958,
1962,
1970,
1994,
2002). A common quip about football is:
"
The English invented it, the Brazilian perfected it."
Currently ranked second by FIFA, Brazil is consistently among the
strongest
football nations in the world and is the only team to have
played in every World Cup.
History
Early history
The first
match of the Brazil national football team is generally considered
to be a 1914 match between a Rio de Janeiro
and São Paulo
select team and the English
club
Exeter City. Brazil won 2–0
with goals by Oswaldo Gomes and Osman, whilst others claim a 3–3
draw. In contrast to future successes, the nation's early
appearances were far from brilliant, partly due to internal strife
within Brazilian football over professionalism, which rendered the
Brazilian Football
Confederation unable to field full-strength teams.
In
particular, disputes between the São Paulo
and Rio de Janeiro
state football federations meant that the team
would not be composed of players coming from either of the
federations. In both the
1930 and
1934 tournaments, Brazil were knocked
out at the very first stage. But
1938 was a sign of things to come, as
Brazil finished a strong third, with
Leonidas da Silva finishing as the
top scorer of the tournament.
Brazil hosted the
1950 FIFA World
Cup which was the first tournament to be held after
World War II. It is the only time Brazil has
hosted the tournament to date (not counting the upcoming
2014 tournament). The 1950 tournament
was unique in not having a single final, but rather a final
round-robin stage of four teams; however, for all intents and
purposes the deciding game between Brazil and
Uruguay acted as that
tournament's "final".
The match was hosted at the Maracanã
stadium in Rio de Janeiro
, watched by 199,854 people, and Brazil only needed
a draw to win, but lost the match 2–1 after being 1–0 up; this
match has since been known in South
America as "Maracanazo".
In Brazil it is called "Final Fatídica" ("fateful final").
For the
1954 FIFA World Cup, in
Switzerland, the Brazilian team was almost completely renovated, so
as to forget the Maracanã defeat, but still had a group of good
players, including
Nílton Santos,
Djalma Santos, and
Didi. Brazil didn't go very far though. The
quarterfinals saw the favorites Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 in one of
the ugliest matches in football history, which would become
infamous as the
Battle of
Berne.
The Golden Era and Pelé (1958 to 1970)
Brazil's
coach, Vicente Feola, imposed strict
rules on the squad for the 1958 FIFA
World Cup, held in Sweden
. The
players were given a list of forty things that they were not
allowed to do, including wearing hats or umbrellas, smoking while
wearing official clothing and talking to the press outside of
allocated times. They were the only team to bring a
psychologist (because the memories of 1950
still affected some players) or a
dentist
(for, because of their humble origins, many players had dental
problems, which caused infections and also had negative impact on
performance) with them, and had sent a representative to Europe to
watch the qualifying matches a year before the tournament
began.
Brazil were drawn in the toughest group, with
England, the
USSR and
Austria. They beat Austria
3–0 in their first match, then drew 0–0 with England. The
Brazilians had been worried about their match with the USSR who had
exceptional fitness and were one of the favourites to win the
tournament; their strategy was to take risks at the beginning of
the match to try and score an early goal. Before the match, the
leaders of the team, Bellini, Nílton Santos, and Didi, spoke to
coach
Vicente Feola and persuaded him
to make three substitutions which were crucial for Brazil to defeat
the Soviets and win the Cup:
Zito,
Garrincha, and
Pelé would start playing against the USSR. From
the kick off, they passed the ball to Garrincha who beat three
players before hitting the post with a shot. They kept up the
pressure relentlessly, and after three minutes which were later
described as "the greatest three minutes in the history of
football", Vavá gave Brazil the lead. They won the match 2–0. Pelé
scored the only goal of their quarter-final match against
Wales, and they beat
France 5–2 in the semi-final.
Brazil beat the hosts
Sweden, in the final 5–2,
winning their first World Cup and becoming the first nation to win
a World Cup title outside of its own continent. A celebrated fact
was that Feola would sometimes take naps during training sessions
and would sometimes close his eyes during matches, giving the
impression that he was asleep. Because of this,
Didi was sometimes said to be the real coach
of the team, as he commanded the mid-field.
In the
1962 FIFA World Cup,
Brazil got its second title with
Garrincha
as the star player; a mantle and responsibility bestowed upon him
after regular talisman,
Pelé, was injured
during the first group match against Mexico and unable to play for
the rest of the tournament.
In the
1966 FIFA World Cup, the
preparation of the team was affected by political influences. All
the major Brazilian clubs wanted their players included in the
Brazilian team, to give them more exposure. In the final months of
preparation, the coach
Vicente Feola
was working with 46 players, of which only 22 would go to England;
this caused lots of internal dispute and psychological pressure.
The result was that, in 1966, Brazil had their worst performance in
all World Cups. Of course, another perhaps bigger issue, was that
Pelé (who may have been at the height of his career) was chopped at
seemingly every opportunity in the group matches.
Brazil won its third World Cup in Mexico in the
1970 FIFA World Cup. Brazil fielded what
has been considered to be the best football squad ever, led by Pelé
in his last World Cup final, captain
Carlos Alberto,
Jairzinho,
Tostão,
Gérson and
Rivelino. After winning the
Jules Rimet Trophy for the third time
Brazil were allowed to keep it for good.
1974–1990
After the international retirement of
Pelé
and other stars, Brazil were not able to overcome
Netherlands'
Total Football and could not defend its title
in the
1974 FIFA World Cup,
finishing in fourth place, after failing to achieve victory against
a strong Polish side.
The
1978 FIFA World Cup was
notoriously controversial. In the second group stage, Brazil were
competing with tournament hosts
Argentina for top spot and
a place in the finals. In their last group match, Brazil defeated
Poland 3–1 to go top
of the group with a
goal difference
of +5. Argentina were only on a goal difference of +2, but in their
last group match, they managed to, controversially, defeat
Peru 6–0 and thus qualify for
the final. Brazil were forced to settle for the third place match,
where they defeated Italy 2–1.
In the
1982 FIFA World Cup, the
tournament favorites Brazil easily moved through the early part of
the draw, but a 3–2 defeat to
Italy, in one of the classic
games in finals history, eliminated them from the tournament.
Paolo Rossi scored all three of Italy's
goals. The seleção was defeated in the match they still refer to as
the "Sarrias Disaster", a reference to the stadium's name, and Telê
would be much blamed for using an attacking system while a 2–2 draw
was enough. The 1982 squad, with players like
Sócrates,
Zico and
Falcão, is remembered as one of the
greatest teams to be eliminated from the World Cup.
In 1986,
Telê and several players
of 1982 returned to play in the
World Cup hosted by Mexico. The players
were older but still capable of an enchanting performance. They
were troubled, however, by an injury Zico picked up before the
World Cup. Incessant questions about whether and when he could play
undoubtedly had some negative effect on the team. Brazil met France
in the quarter-finals and the match is considered an absolute
classic of "total football". Neither side deserved to lose but when
Zico finally came on in the second half (with the score 1–1), and
Brazil were awarded a penalty late in the game, Brazil seemed set
to win. But
Zico, the hero of a whole
generation of Brazilian football fans, missed the penalty - and
after a goalless but thoroughly exciting extra time it all came
down to a penalty shoot out. There Zico managed to score from his
penalty but
Júlio César
da Silva and Sócrates missed, and despite French captain Michel
Platini sending his effort over the cross bar, Brazil nevertheless
were eliminated 4–3. Memories of the afternoon at Sarria's came
back to haunt the crowd.
In the
1990 FIFA World Cup,
Brazil was coached by
Sebastião
Lazaroni, who was hardly known before the Cup and became even
more anonymous afterwards. With a defensive scheme, whose main
symbol was mid-fielder
Dunga, and three
full-backs, the team lacked creativity but made it to the second
round. Against a weaker Argentinian side, the Brazilians applied
heavy pressure and had numerous chances to score, but it was
Claudio Caniggia who managed to
find Brazil's net and eliminate them.
More successes (1994–2002)
1994 World Cup
Brazil, to the surprise of many, went 24 years without winning a
World Cup or even participating in a final. Their struggles ended
at the
1994 tournament in the
United States, where a solid, if unspectacular side headed by the
likes of
Romário,
Bebeto,
Dunga,
Taffarel, and
Jorginho won
the World Cup for a then-record 4th time. Highlights of their
campaign included a 1–0 victory over the hosts in the round of 16,
a sensational 3–2 win over the Dutch in the quarter-finals (often
cited as the game of the tournament) and a 1–0 win over the Swedes
in the semis. This set up a classic confrontation, Brazil vs.
Italy, in the final. After a dour and unexciting 0–0 draw, penalty
kicks loomed, and when
Roberto Baggio
lifted his spot kick over the crossbar, Brazil were champions once
again. A new era of dominance had begun.
1998 World Cup
Brazil finished runner-up in the
1998 FIFA World Cup. After a very
respectable campaign during which they beat
Netherlands on penalties
in the semi-final following a 1–1 draw with goals from
Ronaldo and
Patrick
Kluivert, the team lost to hosts
France 3–0 in a problematic
final game. Brazilian marking at defensive set pieces was poor, and
Zinédine Zidane was able to
score two headed goals from France's corner kicks. Also, Brazilian
star
Ronaldo suffered an epileptic seizure a
few hours before the match. Many criticized the decision to
reinstate Ronaldo into the starting lineup as he put in a poor
performance.
2002 World Cup
Fuelled by
the scintillating play of the "Three R's" (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and
Ronaldinho), Brazil won its fifth
championship at the 2002 FIFA World
Cup held in South
Korea
and Japan
. When
the groups were drawn, Brazil seemed to have been lucky; Their
adversaries would be
Turkey,
China and
Costa Rica. At the end, it
turned out that
Turkey
finished the tournament in third place. Brazil went on beating all
three opponents, scoring 11 goals and conceding only three, and
topping the group.
In Brazil's opening game against
Turkey,
Rivaldo fell to the ground clutching his face after
Turkey's
Hakan Ünsal had kicked the
ball at his legs. Hakan Ünsal, who had already been booked, was
sent off while
Rivaldo jumped to his feet
and continued playing. Rivaldo escaped suspension but was fined
£5,180 for play-acting, he became the first player to be punished
in FIFA's crackdown on "simulation" and "diving".
Next they defeated
Belgium 2–0, in the most
difficult match for Brazil in the tournament. Against
England in the quarter
finals, Brazil won 2–1.
Ronaldinho scored
the winner with a remarkable lofted free kick and also assisted
teammate
Rivaldo for their first goal, but
was sent off for stamping on the right ankle of England's
Danny Mills. The semifinal was against
Turkey, which Brazil had faced
in their group. Again, this match was difficult, as Brazil won 1–0
with a goal by
Ronaldo. Rivaldo had scored
one goal each in all five game up to this one but did not manage to
hit the target in the sixth. He had seemed all set to repeat
Jairzinho´s great achievement in 1970 when
he scored in every game of the World Cup.
The final was between two of the most successful teams in the
competition's history:
Germany and Brazil.
Incredibly, the teams had never played each other in the World Cup
before, besides a match between Brazil and
East Germany in the
1974 FIFA World Cup. German
goalkeeper
Oliver Kahn had been the
tournament's best keeper, but could not maintain that level of
play, as Ronaldo vanquished his France '98 demons, scoring both
goals in the Brazilian 2–0 triumph.
2002–2006
On June
29, 2005, Brazil won the Confederations Cup for the second
time with an emphatic 4–1 victory over arch-rivals Argentina in Frankfurt
, Germany
. They
also won another championship, the 2004 Copa América in which
Brazil defeated
Argentina in a penalty
shootout. Argentina had defeated Peru in the quarterfinals, and
Colombia in the semifinals. In the 2002 World Cup, Brazil made it
to the final to face the powerful German squad again. The Brazilian
striker Ronaldo scored two goals in the final, leaving Germany in
the dust, as the experienced Brazilian captain
Cafu lifted the World Cup for Brazil a fifth
time.
2006 World Cup
Brazilian's coach
Parreira
presented a formation nicknamed "The Magic Square", based in 4
offensive players:
Ronaldo,
Adriano,
Kaká, and
Ronaldinho.
During preparation stages the team showed up some problems. Team's
greatest star
Ronaldo had a bad build-up,
after returning from a two months injury. He also had blisters on
his feet and a fever during the training matches.
Despite winning the first 2 games against
Croatia (1–0) and
Australia (2–0), the "Magic
Square" didn't seem to work as expected and it was hard to beat the
opponents defense. In the 3rd game, the coach tried a new squad
with 5 former reserve players, including
Robinho, and
Cicinho. The
changes were successful, as the team put a comfortable 4-1 win
against Japan.
During the second round, they defeated
Ghana 3–0. However, Brazil was
eliminated in the quarterfinals against
France by a score of 1–0.
France was led by a rejuvenated
Zinédine Zidane and by a strong defence
which kept the Brazilian strikers under check for the duration of
the game. Brazil were shut out, attempting just one shot at French
goalkeeper
Fabien Barthez. The game
was also notable for being the first time that the Brazil team had
been shut out in consecutive matches against a particular team.
France now has a 2–1–1 all-time record against Brazil in World Cup
play.
After elimination, the team was largely criticized by the press and
the fans. The media circulated images from the left wingback
Roberto Carlos tying his
shoes while
Henry runs unmarked to
score the winning goal. The sporting legend
Pelé, blamed coach
Parreira and
Ronaldinho for the team's early
elimination.
After the 2006 World Cup
1994 World Cup champion
Dunga was hired as
Brazil's new team coach on July 24. Dunga's former teammate,
Jorginho was hired as his assistant.
His first
match in charge was against Norway which was played in
Oslo
on August 16, ended in a 1–1 draw.
His second
match was held against arch rivals Argentina on September 3 in
Arsenal's new Emirates
Stadium
in London
, in which
Brazil defeated Argentina by a 3–0 scoreline. On September 5 they
defeated Wales 2–0 at
Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart
Lane
ground. They later defeated Kuwait
club
Al-Kuwait 4–0, Ecuador 2–1 and had a 2–1
away win against Switzerland.
Dunga's first defeat as Brazil's coach occurred on February 6, 2007
in a friendly match against
Portugal, which at that time
was coached by former Brazil coach
Luiz Felipe Scolari. Respectively on
March 24 and March 27, 2007, Brazil bounced back from their first
defeat under Dunga with wins in friendly matches against
Chile (4–0) and
Ghana (1–0) in Sweden.
Unlike Parreira, Dunga has focused on the task of deemphasizing all
players and treating them as equals. He did not just look for
players in popular clubs such as
Milan,
Barcelona,
Real Madrid, etc., but looked at the whole
scope of Europe, finding individual talents such as
Vágner Love and
Dudu Cearense who were playing for Russian
club
CSKA Moscow and
Elano who was playing for Ukrainian club
Shakhtar Donetsk. Of the four
players who was dubbed as Magic Quartet,
Ronaldinho and
Kaká were
the only players who had a regular place in the Brazil squad.
Adriano was called back in the
squad for a friendly against
Portugal in February 2007,
which Brazil lost 0–2. Dunga is yet to select the last member of
the Magic Quartet,
Ronaldo. Instead,
Luís Fabiano has made the majority
of appearances at striker.
Copa América 2007
Brazil
participated in the Copa América
2007 which was hosted by Venezuela
. They were placed in Group B with
Mexico,
Ecuador, and
Chile. Brazil surprisingly lost
to
Mexico 2–0 in their
opening match, then bounced back with a comfortable 3–0 victory
over
Chile with three
goals from
Robinho, and won 1–0 against
Ecuador,
Robinho scoring on a penalty kick. They advanced to
the quarter-finals, where they defeated
Chile again 6–1. The semi-final
was against
Uruguay,
after a 2–2 draw, Brazil won 5–4 on penalties. Their opponent in
the final was
Argentina, which were the
favorites to won, having won all their matches on the way to the
final. However Brazil scored early in the 4th minute when
Júlio Baptista scored, and then in the
45th minute, defender
Roberto Ayala
scored on an own goal. Later in the second half, in the 69th
minute, substitute
Dani Alves scored
Brazil's third goal, as the scoreline became 3–0. After the
tournament,
Robinho was awarded the
Golden Boot in addition to being named the best
player in the tournament.
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
The Brazilian team won the
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in
South Africa. Although they started
with a shaky victory over with a 4–3 win with a last minute penalty
as Egypt is also credited as the only African team to score three
goals against Brazil, they comfortably beat the
USA, as well as ,
both with a 3–0 scoreline. After beating in the semi-final with a
late free kick, they went on to a rematch against USA in the final
which they won 3–2, after coming in 2–0 down at half-time, to seal
their third
Confederations
Cup title. Kaká was named as the player of the tournament and
Luís Fabiano won the top
goalscorer award with five goals in five matches.
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
After a
3-1 victory over Argentina in Rosario
, on September 5, 2009, Brazil qualified for the
2010 FIFA World
Cup.
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
standings
Recent results
| Result under current head coach Dunga |
| # |
Date |
Venue |
Opponent |
Result |
Goalscorers |
Competition |
| 2006 |
| 1 |
August 16, 2006 |
Oslo , Norway |
|
1–1 |
Daniel Carvalho |
Friendly |
| 2 |
September 3, 2006 |
London , England |
|
3–0 |
Elano (2), Kaká |
Friendly |
| 3 |
September 5, 2006 |
London , England |
|
2–0 |
Marcelo,
Vágner Love |
Friendly |
|
October 7, 2006 |
Kuwait City , Kuwait |
Al Kuwait Selection |
4–0 |
Rafael Sóbis, Robinho, Daniel
Carvalho, Kaká |
Unofficial friendly |
| 4 |
October 10, 2006 |
Stockholm , Sweden |
|
2–1 |
Fred, Kaká |
Friendly |
| 5 |
November 15, 2006 |
Basel , Switzerland |
|
2–1 |
Luisão, Kaká |
Friendly |
| 2007 |
| 6 |
February 6, 2007 |
London , England |
|
0–2 |
|
Friendly |
| 7 |
March 24, 2007 |
Gothenburg , Sweden |
|
4–0 |
Ronaldinho (2), Kaká, Juan |
Friendly |
| 8 |
March 27, 2007 |
Stockholm , Sweden |
|
1–0 |
Vágner Love |
Friendly |
| 9 |
June 1, 2007 |
London , England |
|
1–1 |
Diego |
Friendly |
| 10 |
June 5, 2007 |
Dortmund , Germany |
|
0–0 |
|
Friendly |
| 11 |
June 26, 2007 |
Puerto Ordaz , Venezuela |
|
0–2 |
|
Copa América 2007 |
| 12 |
July 1, 2007 |
Maturín , Venezuela |
|
3–0 |
Robinho (3) |
Copa América 2007 |
| 13 |
July 4, 2007 |
Puerto la
Cruz, Venezuela |
|
1–0 |
Robinho |
Copa América 2007 |
| 14 |
July 7, 2007 |
Puerto la
Cruz, Venezuela |
|
6–1 |
Juan, Júlio Baptista, Robinho (2), Josué, Vágner Love |
Copa América 2007 |
| 15 |
July 10, 2007 |
Maracaibo , Venezuela |
|
2–2 |
Maicon, Júlio Baptista |
Copa América 2007 |
| 16 |
July 15, 2007 |
Maracaibo , Venezuela |
|
3–0 |
Júlio Baptista, own goal,
Daniel Alves |
Copa América 2007 |
| 17 |
August 22, 2007 |
Montpellier , France |
|
2–0 |
Maicon, Ronaldinho |
Friendly |
| 18 |
September 9, 2007 |
Chicago , United
States |
|
4–2 |
own goal, Lúcio, Ronaldinho, Elano |
Friendly |
| 19 |
September 12, 2007 |
Boston , United States |
|
3–1 |
Kléber,
Kaká, Afonso
Alves |
Friendly |
| 20 |
October 14, 2007 |
Bogotá , Colombia |
|
0–0 |
|
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 21 |
October 17, 2007 |
Rio de Janeiro , Brazil |
|
5–0 |
Vágner Love, Ronaldinho, Kaká (2),
Elano |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 22 |
November 18, 2007 |
Lima , Peru |
|
1–1 |
Kaká |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 23 |
November 21, 2007 |
São Paulo , Brazil |
|
2–1 |
Luís Fabiano (2) |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2008 |
| 24 |
February 6, 2008 |
Dublin , Ireland |
|
1–0 |
Robinho |
Friendly |
| 25 |
March 26, 2008 |
London , England |
|
1–0 |
Alexandre Pato |
Friendly |
| 26 |
May 31, 2008 |
Seattle , United
States |
|
3–2 |
Diego, Luís Fabiano, Robinho |
Friendly |
| 27 |
June 6, 2008 |
Boston , United States |
|
0–2 |
|
Friendly |
| 28 |
June 15, 2008 |
Asunción , Paraguay |
|
0–2 |
|
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 29 |
June 18, 2008 |
Belo Horizonte , Brazil |
|
0–0 |
|
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 30 |
September 7, 2008 |
Santiago , Chile |
|
3–0 |
Luís Fabiano (2), Robinho |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 31 |
September 10, 2008 |
Rio de Janeiro , Brazil |
|
0–0 |
|
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 32 |
October 10, 2008 |
San Cristóbal , Venezuela |
|
4–0 |
Kaká, Robinho
(2), Adriano |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 33 |
October 15, 2008 |
Rio de Janeiro , Brazil |
|
0–0 |
|
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 34 |
November 19, 2008 |
Brasília , Brazil |
|
6–2 |
Luís Fabiano (3), Maicon, Elano,
Adriano |
Friendly |
| 2009 |
| 35 |
February 10, 2009 |
London , England |
|
2–0 |
Elano, Robinho |
Friendly |
| 36 |
March 29, 2009 |
Quito , Ecuador |
|
1–1 |
Júlio Baptista |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 37 |
April 1, 2009 |
Porto Alegre , Brazil |
|
3–0 |
Luís Fabiano (2), Felipe Melo |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 38 |
June 6, 2009 |
Montevideo , Uruguay |
|
4–0 |
Daniel Alves, Juan, Luís Fabiano, Kaká |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 39 |
June 10, 2009 |
Recife , Brazil |
|
2–1 |
Robinho, Nilmar |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 40 |
June 15, 2009 |
Bloemfontein , South
Africa |
|
4–3 |
Kaká (2), Luís Fabiano, Juan |
2009 FIFA
Confederations Cup |
| 41 |
June 18, 2009 |
Pretoria , South
Africa |
|
3–0 |
Felipe Melo, Robinho, Maicon |
2009 FIFA
Confederations Cup |
| 42 |
June 21, 2009 |
Pretoria , South
Africa |
|
3–0 |
Luís Fabiano (2), own
goal |
2009 FIFA
Confederations Cup |
| 43 |
June 25, 2009 |
Johannesburg , South
Africa |
|
1–0 |
Daniel Alves |
2009 FIFA
Confederations Cup |
| 44 |
June 28, 2009 |
Johannesburg , South
Africa |
|
3–2 |
Luís Fabiano (2), Lúcio |
2009 FIFA
Confederations Cup |
| 45 |
August 12, 2009 |
Talinn , Estonia |
|
1–0 |
Luís Fabiano |
Friendly |
| 46 |
September 5, 2009 |
Rosario , Argentina |
|
3–1 |
Luís Fabiano (2), Luisão |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 47 |
September 9, 2009 |
Salvador , Brazil |
|
4–2 |
Nilmar (3), Júlio Baptista |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 48 |
October 11, 2009 |
La
Paz , Bolivia |
|
1–2 |
Nilmar |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 49 |
October 14, 2009 |
Campo Grande,
Brazil |
|
0–0 |
|
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 50 |
November 14, 2009 |
Doha , Qatar |
|
1–0 |
Nilmar |
Friendly |
| 51 |
November 17, 2009 |
Muscat , Oman |
|
2–0 |
Nilmar, own goal |
Friendly |
Olympics
The
Olympic football
tournament is the only international competition in football
organized by FIFA
that
Brazil has never won, although they have won two silver medals
(1984 and 1988) and two bronze medals (1996, 2008). The Brazilian Olympic
team is often coached by the current national team coach, such as
Mario Zagallo in 1996 and
Dunga in 2008.
Nickname
The Brazilian national team has many nicknames and are known in
different parts of the world by different nicknames.
The most common name
used to refer to them, especially in Brazil
, is A
Seleção, which literally means the selection.
Brazilians call any team from any country or sport a seleção and
because of this it has become common for the national team to be
referred to as the
Seleção Brasileira or to more
specifically refer to it, the
Seleção Brasileira de
Futebol. Although Brazilian media have popularized
Seleção, other nicknames for them in Brazil include
Canarinho, meaning Little Canary, a phrase that was
popularized by the late cartoonist Fernando Pieruccetti during the
1950 World Cup. Other names like
Amarelinha, Little Yellow,
Verde-amarelo,
Green-Yellow,
Pentacampeão, Five-time Champions and
Esquadrão de Ouro (the Golden Squad), among others. It can
also be noted that
American and
British media outlets have
referred to Brazil as the
Auriverde, coming from the
Portuguese words
verde and amarela (or dourada) which mean
green and yellow (or gold), but is not used in Brazil itself. Some
English newspapers colloquially use the nickname "Samba
Kings".
Venues
Brazil
does not have a home national stadium like many other national
teams and as such rotate their home World
Cup qualifying matches through various venues: the Estádio do
Maracanã
or Estádio Olímpico João
Havelange
in Rio de
Janeiro
, the Estádio do Morumbi
in São Paulo
, the Mineirão
in Belo
Horizonte
, the
Estádio
Mané Garrincha
in the capital Brasília
and the Estádio Beira-Rio
in Porto Alegre
. Some smaller provincial stadia were used in
the
2006
World Cup qualifying campaign.
Since
September 2006, Brazil have played many international friendlies at
Arsenal's Emirates Stadium
in London
.
After their initial 3-0 win over
Argentina drew a near
sell-out attendance and was screened live on
BBC
Two, Brazil have returned to the ground regularly, facing
Portugal and
Sweden and lastly
against
Italy in
February 2009.
Colours
Brazil's first team colours were white with blue collars, but
following defeat in the
Maracanã at the 1950 World Cup,
the colours were criticised for lacking patriotism. With permission
from the Brazilian Sports Confederation, the newspaper
Correio da Manhã held a
competition to design a kit incorporating the four colours of the
Brazilian flag.
The winning design was a yellow jersey with
green trim and blue shorts with white trim drawn by Aldyr Garcia
Schlee, a nineteen year old from Pelotas
. The new colours were first used in March
1954 in a match against
Chile, and have been used ever
since.
The use of blue as the away kit colour dates from the 30s, but it
became the permanent second choice accidentally in the 1958 World
Cup final. Brazil's opponents were Sweden, who also wear yellow,
and a draw gave to the home team Sweden the right to play in
yellow. Brazil, who travelled with no spare kit, hurriedly
purchased a set of blue shirts and sewed on emblems cut from their
yellow shirts.
Kit evolution
Competitive record
| World Cup record |
| Year |
Round |
Position |
GP |
W |
D* |
L |
GS |
GA |
| 1930 |
Round 1 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
| 1934 |
Round 1 |
14 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
| 1938 |
Third Place |
3 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
14 |
11 |
|
| 1950 |
Second place |
2 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
22 |
6 |
| 1954 |
Quarter-finals |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
| 1958 |
Champions |
1 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
16 |
4 |
| 1962 |
Champions |
1 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
14 |
5 |
| 1966 |
Round 1 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
| 1970 |
Champions |
1 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
7 |
| 1974 |
Fourth place |
4 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
|
| 1978 |
Third place |
3 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
| 1982 |
Group Round 2 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
15 |
6 |
| 1986 |
Quarter-finals |
5 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
1 |
| 1990 |
Round of 16 |
10 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
| 1994 |
Champions |
1 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
11 |
3 |
|
| 1998 |
Second place |
2 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
14 |
10 |
| 2002 |
Champions |
1 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
4 |
| 2006 |
Quarter-finals |
6 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
2 |
| 2010 |
Qualified |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 2014 |
Qualified |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Total |
20/20 |
5 Titles |
92 |
64 |
*14 |
14 |
201 |
84 |
| Confederations
Cup record |
| Year |
Round |
GP |
W |
D* |
L |
GS |
GA |
| 1992 and 1995 |
Did Not Qualify |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1997 |
Champions |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
14 |
2 |
|
| 1999 |
Second place |
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
16 |
6 |
| 2001 |
Fourth place |
5 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
| 2003 |
Round 1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
| 2005 |
Champions |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
6 |
| 2009 |
Champions |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
5 |
| Total |
3 Titles |
28 |
18 |
5 |
5 |
62 |
25 |
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- **Gold background color indicates that the tournament was
won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on
home soil.
- ***Right arrow (→) means an actual tournament
status.
| World Cup matches (By team) |
| Total: 92 games played - 64 Wins - 14 Draws - 14
Losses |
| Against |
|
|
|
|
|
Against |
|
|
|
|
|
Against |
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Below is a list of all matches Brazil have played against FIFA
recognised teams
| Opponent |
Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Goals for |
Goals against |
% Won |
|
94 |
36 |
24 |
34 |
148 |
150 |
38.3% |
|
72 |
44 |
17 |
11 |
160 |
61 |
61.1% |
|
72 |
33 |
19 |
20 |
127 |
93 |
45.8% |
|
64 |
45 |
12 |
7 |
147 |
53 |
70.3% |
|
39 |
27 |
9 |
3 |
83 |
27 |
69.2% |
|
36 |
21 |
6 |
9 |
69 |
34 |
58.3% |
|
27 |
22 |
3 |
2 |
84 |
20 |
81.5% |
|
25 |
18 |
3 |
4 |
86 |
23 |
72.0% |
|
24 |
15 |
7 |
2 |
54 |
10 |
62.5% |
|
23 |
11 |
9 |
3 |
31 |
19 |
50.0% |
|
19 |
18 |
0 |
1 |
82 |
6 |
94.7% |
|
18 |
12 |
2 |
4 |
36 |
15 |
66.7% |
|
18 |
9 |
7 |
2 |
36 |
23 |
50.0% |
|
17 |
9 |
6 |
2 |
27 |
14 |
52.9% |
|
16 |
15 |
0 |
1 |
31 |
10 |
93.8% |
|
15 |
9 |
4 |
2 |
33 |
18 |
60.0% |
|
14 |
7 |
2 |
5 |
21 |
19 |
50.0% |
|
13 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
21 |
18 |
38.5% |
|
12 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
18 |
11 |
58.3% |
|
10 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
33 |
17 |
80.0% |
|
10 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
20 |
5 |
80.0% |
|
9 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
19 |
2 |
88.9% |
|
9 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
14 |
3 |
77.8% |
|
9 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
14 |
13 |
33.3% |
|
8 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
30 |
9 |
87.5% |
|
8 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
20 |
4 |
75.0% |
|
8 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
12 |
4 |
62.5% |
|
8 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
19 |
10 |
62.5% |
|
8 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
8 |
50.0% |
|
7 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
7 |
42.9% |
|
7 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
13 |
5 |
71.4% |
|
6 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
1 |
66.7% |
|
6 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
12 |
14 |
33.3% |
|
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
4 |
100.0% |
|
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
3 |
60.0% |
|
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
16 |
6 |
60.0% |
|
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
2 |
60.0% |
|
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
3 |
100.0% |
|
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
75.0% |
|
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
4 |
75.0% |
|
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
4 |
75.0% |
|
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
8 |
0.0% |
|
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
75.0% |
|
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
6 |
75.0% |
|
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
75.0% |
|
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
4 |
50.0% |
|
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
2 |
100.0% |
|
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
1 |
100.0% |
|
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
3 |
100.0% |
|
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
3 |
100.0% |
|
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
3 |
66.7% |
|
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
66.7% |
|
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
9 |
66.7% |
|
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
33.3% |
|
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
100.0% |
|
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
50.0% |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
50.0% |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
50.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
1 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
100.0% |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
100.0% |
Players
Current squad
The
following players have been called up for the international friendly against England on November 14, 2009
in Doha
, Qatar
and
against Oman on November
17, 2009 in Muscat
, Oman
.
Caps and goals as of November 17, 2009, including the match
against Oman.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up to the Brazil squad in
the past 12 months.
Most appearances
Below is a list of the 20 players with the most appearances for
Brazil, as of November 17, 2009:
*Denotes players still
available for selection
Most goals
Below is a list of the 20 players with the most goals for Brazil,
as of November 17, 2009:
*Denotes players still available for
selection
IFFHS Player of the 20th Century
Below are the results of a poll by IFFHS for the best Brazilian
player of the 20th century.
*Denotes players still available for
selection
Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame
The following Brazilians players have been inducted into the
Pacaembu Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame in October
2008.
Honorable Mention in the "Heroes of Brazilian Football" section, on
the Pacaembu Brazilian Football Museum:
Previous squads
Coaches
World Cup winning coaches in bold.
Honours

Brazil is the most successful team in
World Cup history.
Senior team
Official titles
- Copa América:
- Winners (8): 1919, 1922, 1949, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007
- Runners-up (11): 1921, 1925, 1937, 1945, 1946, 1953, 1957, 1959,1983, 1991, 1995
Friendly titles
- Copa Roca:
- Winners (8): 1914, 1922, 1945, 1957, 1960,
1963, 1971, 1976
Olympic team
See also
Notes
References
External links
Titles