No nation carries more expectation into a World Cup than Brazil. The Seleção are the most decorated team in the tournament’s history – five titles, the most of any nation – and the only country to have qualified for every edition since 1930.
Football in Brazil is not a sport. It is a religion. From the streets of Rio de Janeiro to the favelas of São Paulo, the game defines national identity in a way that is impossible to replicate anywhere else.
How they got there
Brazil’s qualifying campaign was one of the most turbulent in their history. Three coaches passed through the dugout – Ramon Menezes, Fernando Diniz and Dorival Junior – before Carlo Ancelotti was appointed in May 2025 following his departure from Real Madrid.
Dorival Junior was sacked after a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Argentina in Buenos Aires – a result that shocked the football world. Ancelotti steadied the ship and Brazil qualified in fifth place in CONMEBOL with 28 points – comfortably through but well below the standards expected of the five-time champions.
Best ever World Cup finish
Brazil have won the World Cup five times – in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002 – and have never finished lower than fifth in any edition they have entered.
Their 1970 side – featuring Pelé, Jairzinho and Rivelino – is widely considered the greatest international team ever assembled.
Their most recent title came in 2002 in Japan and South Korea. The 24-year wait since then is the longest drought in their history.
Iconic moments
Few moments in football history match the 1970 final when Brazil destroyed Italy 4-1 in Mexico City to claim their third World Cup – earning permanent possession of the Jules Rimet Trophy.
Pelé’s career-defining performances across three World Cups remain the benchmark for individual excellence.
More recently, the 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany on home soil in 2014 remains one of the most shocking results in World Cup history – a wound that Brazilian football has not yet fully healed.
Players to watch
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) – Brazil’s most dangerous and explosive attacking player. The 25-year-old winger has won two Champions League titles with Real Madrid and is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world.
Named UEFA Champions League Player of the Season in 2024, he arrives at the World Cup as the centrepiece of Ancelotti’s Brazil project and the player most capable of delivering a sixth world title.
Neymar (Santos) – Brazil’s all-time record scorer with 79 goals arrives at what is likely his final World Cup after returning to boyhood club Santos in January 2025 following an injury-plagued spell at Al-Hilal. He has not played for Brazil since suffering an ACL tear in October 2023.
Fixtures
14 Jun: Brazil vs Morocco – MetLife Stadium, New Jersey – 00:00 SAST
20 Jun: Brazil vs Haiti – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – 03:00 SAST
25 Jun: Scotland vs Brazil – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 00:00 SAST
Photo: REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo
