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Brazil–Uruguay football rivalry
International football rivalry / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Brazil–Uruguay football rivalry, also known as El Clásico del Río Negro, or Clássico do Rio Negro, or Clásico do Rio Cuareim is a highly competitive sports rivalry between the Brazilian and Uruguayan national football teams, and their respective set of fans. Association football is the most popular sport in both countries and they have a combined 7 FIFA World Cups and 24 Copa Américas between them. Both countries also have a very close proximity and border each other, Uruguay only has a population of 3.5 million[1] and has a size of 176,215 km2, while Brazil has a population of 210 million[2] and a size of 8,515,767 km2, making it the 5th largest country in terms of both population and size.
![]() Neymar (right) and Egidio Arévalo Ríos (left) competing for the ball at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup | |
Other names | Clásico del Río Negro Clássico do Rio Negro |
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Location | South America (CONMEBOL) |
Teams | ![]() ![]() |
First meeting | Uruguay 2–1 Brazil (1916 Copa América, Argentina, 12 July 1916) |
Latest meeting | Uruguay 0–0 (4–2 p) Brazil (2024 Copa América, Las Vegas, 6 July 2024) |
Next meeting | Brazil vs Uruguay (FIFA World Cup qualification, Brazil, 19 November 2024) |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 80 |
Most wins | ![]() |
All-time series | Brazil: 38 Draw: 21 Uruguay: 21 |
Largest victory | Uruguay 6–0 Brazil (1920 Copa América, Chile, 18 September 1920) |
Although not considered as big as Argentina's rivalries with Brazil or Uruguay, the games between them have a very tense atmosphere due to their infamous encounter in the de facto final of the 1950 FIFA World Cup where Uruguay completely shocked the Brazilian favorites 2–1 at the Maracanã Stadium in Brazil, allowing La Celeste to claim their 2nd World Cup title. The game nicknamed, the Maracanazo, is considered by many Brazilians (and the world media) as one of the nation's worst (and most embarrassing) ever defeats.[3] A moment that was considered so traumatizing to Brazilian crowd watching, that many Brazilian newspapers didn't bother to report on the event, and some fans in the stands decided to commit suicide following the result, as the country expected an easy victory.[4]
Since then, Brazil have proved to be the more dominant team in both head-to-head with Uruguay and at international tournaments like the FIFA World Cup. Uruguay has dominated Brazil in the regional Copa América. However, whenever they play against each other (especially at the Maracanã), there is a lot of fear in the Brazilian public that the "Phantom of '50" would resurface and they would lose again just like in 1950. Many Uruguayan fans love to remind their next-door neighbors of the "Phantom of '50", although many Brazilians say that the phantom is gone as Brazil have won 5 World Cups (the most of any nation), and Uruguay hasn't reached another final since.[5] In any event, both teams had only one other encounter in the 1970 FIFA World Cup semifinals, which Brazil won 3–1. Brazil have also beaten Uruguay at the Maracanã multiple times since then. However, Brazil would suffer another embarrassing defeat at home soil: this time, against Germany, when they lost 7–1, at the Mineirão in the 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-finals.[6]