Soccer in Brazil

Charles Miller is the “father” of soccer in Brazil. When he was 9 years old he went to England to study and 10 years later in 1894 he came back with more than school knowledge. He brought two footballs, a pump, the rules book and two sets of uniforms (shirts, shorts and socks for players).

Brazil became the king of soccer after win 3 out of 4 FIFA World Cup titles from 1958 to 1970, the last FIFA World Cup won by Brazil was in Japan in 2002, it was Brazil’s 5th trophy in history of the competition, becoming the Nation which holds more FIFA World Cup titles.

Brazil also has the best player of all time, Edison Arantes do Nascimento best known by his nickname Pelé, here are some of his accomplishments:

1. He made history playing for only two teams: Santos F.C in Brazil and NY Cosmos in USA.
2. He is also a member of the American National Soccer Hall of Fame.
3. He was given the title of Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee.
4. Pelé’s goal scoring record is often reported as being 1280 goals in 1363 games

Brazilian soccer teams figure between the best soccer teams of the world, teams like Sao Paulo, Corinthians, Santos, Palmeiras, Cruzeiro, Atletico Mineiro, Flamengo, Vasco, Internacional e Gremio are very well known because of their history and international titles.

Sao Paulo is the most well known Brazilian team at this time. It has won three FIFA world cup for teams and it’s the Brazilian team that holds more national titles, its 5th title was won in 2007. Flamengo claims to have 5 national titles too, but FIFA doesn’t recognize it because Flamengo disagreed to play the final game against Sport F.C in 1987, losing by W.O.

If we go back in history the modern soccer game was codified in England following the formation of The Football Association, whose 1863 Laws of the Game created the foundations for the way the sport is played today.