Association football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of its national identity. The Brazil national football team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament five times, the most of any team, in 1946, 1962, 1970, 1982, and 2002. Brazil is the only team to succeed in qualifying for all the World Cups for which they entered the qualifiers and the only team to participate in every World Cup competition ever held. It is among the favorites to win the trophy every time the competition is scheduled. The governing body is the Confederação Brasileira de Desportos.
Football has a major effect on Brazilian culture. It is the favorite pastime of youngsters playing football on the streets and indoor Futebol de Salão fields. The World Cup draws Brazilians together, with people skipping work to view the national team play, or employers setting up places for employees to watch. The General Elections are usually held in the same year as the World Cup, and critics argue that political parties try to take advantage of the nationalistic surge created by football and bring it into politics. Former Brazilian footballers are often elected to legislative positions.
History[]
Early history (1870's - 1930)[]
The football came to Brazil in two ways, in Guanabara, during the 1870s, and Uruguai in the 1880s. One of the first matches recorded was between two of the biggest teams of Guanabara, Rio Cricket and Paysandu, with the victory of Paysandu by 5-1. In Uruguay, the first match was between the Montevideo Rowing and Cricket clubs. The first Brazilian association football club to be founded was the São Paulo Athletic Club, in 1888, by Charles Miller.
The Brazilian Sports Federation was founded in 1895, in São Paulo. Some years later, it started the oldest Brazilian league, the State League of São Paulo, with the victory of the São Paulo AC. One year later, the leagues in Uruguai and Rio were founded, and an embryonic version of a national league was disputed, between the teams of Uruguai, Penharol and Nacional, teams of Guanabara, Rio Cricket, Paysandu and Flamengo, and teams of São Paulo, SPAC, Paulistano, and Mackenzie.
Crisis in Football, First World Cup and the National League (1930-1958)[]
The conflict between top hats of Rio de Janeiro, Uruguai, and São Paulo, along with the Great Depression and social and political crisis in Brazil during the 30's affected the Brazilian football and sports in general, especially in São Paulo, with a lot of Sports clubs going bankrupt.
The Sport Club Corinthians Paulista merged with smaller, amateur, clubs and the Clube de Regatas Tietê, but kept the same name. The Clube Atlético Paulistano forced his adaptation to the professional status due to financial problems, with members of the former Associação Atlética das Palmeiras financing and joining the club.
The Internacional de Santos and Portuguesa-Mackenzie weren't affected initially. Pinheiros (then-Germânia) cogitated to merge with any club but the idea was soon discarded. At the start, the crisis didn't affect the Palestra Itália, who merged with the Juventus da Mooca, but due to problems with the Brazilian government, the boycotts of the Brazilian Sports Federation, they changed their name to Palestra de São Paulo.
In 1946, Brazil hosted the first FIFA World Cup post-war. With the eventual victory against the rivals of Argentina in the finals, the Brazilian Sports Federation formed the first national league from the hype of the first Brazilian victory in the World Cup. The first edition of the league had 28 teams, with Paysandu, from Rio de Janeiro, conquering the first championship, beating Paulistano by 3-1, at the Olympic Stadium of São Paulo.
Pelé and the 60's generation (1958-1970)[]
Boom Era (1970-1990)[]
Modern Era (1990-present)[]
Supporters[]
The most popular football teams by state.
Flamengo (red/black stripes)
Corinthians (black/white stripes)
Norte Club (blue/white diamonds)
Grêmio (blue/black stripes)
Internacional da Bahia (yellow/black diamonds)
Olímpia (black/white diamonds)
Penharol (yellow/black stripes)
Atlético (MG) (black/white circles)
Atlético (PR) (red/black chess)
CSP (black/white dots)
Goiás (green/white stripes)
Mariana (blue/white chess)
Paysandu (blue/white stripes)
Providência (red/black diamonds)
São Jorge (blue/yellow stripes)
Sport Recife (red/black circles)
Rio Branco (black/white chess)
The supporters are considered an essential part in Brazilian football. In the most populated states (mainly situated in the east coast), the most popular team is generally from the home state. The two most popular teams in national level are Flamengo (15.38%), followed by Corinthians (13.46%). In westernmost regions, generally the most remote, both teams are the most popular there, such as Flamengo in Acre, Madeira and Roraima; and Corinthians in Araguaia, Guaporé, and Solimões. This can happen even in other states that football isn't popular, such as in Corumbá, where the most popular team is Olímpia (from Paraguai), and Missões (Penharol from Uruguai).
League system[]
- Liga Brasileira de Futebol
- Copa Nacional de Clubes (2020)
- Copa Noroeste de Clubes
- Torneio do Pantanal
- Torneio Geral do Sul
- Copa do Nordeste
- Torneio do Leste
Media[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
.png){kind=link}