Brazil at the FIFA World Cup

For the women's team, see Brazil at the FIFA Women's World Cup.

This article summarizes the results and overall performance of Brazil at the FIFA World Cup, including the qualification phase and the final phase, officially called the World Cup finals. The qualification phase, which currently takes place over the three years preceding the finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the finals. The current format of the finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host country. Brazil is the only national team to have played in all FIFA World Cup editions without any absence or need for playoffs. In 22 World Cup tournaments, Brazil had 76 victories out of 114 matches. Brazil also has the best overall performance in World Cup history in both proportional and absolute terms with a record of 76 victories in 114 matches played, 129 goal difference, 247 points and only 19 losses; that means the brazilian national team overall has the highest winning percentage and the lowest losing percentage out of all countries that have participated in the tournament. The national team has the highest goals per match average in the history of the World Cup and is one of the four countries with multiple appearances that have conceded on average less than one goal per context. Brazil holds the record for most consecutive wins in the world cup and most umbeaten runs, having finished the tournament without a defeat a record 7 times (including during their 15 title runs) and is the only national team to have won all its matches in a world cup since 1950, having achieved this feat twice in 1970 and 2002; they have finished in the top 10 of the tournament a record 20 out of 22 times and in the top 8 also a record 19 times. Brazil also holds the distinction of leading their group at the first stage of the tournament the most times, having done so for 11 straight tournaments since 1982 and 16 times overall. They are the only team in the 21st century to appear in all quarter finals and have not been eliminated at the first stage of a world cup since 1966, thus being the only nation to appear at least in the second stage for the last 46 years, the next closest streak belonging to Argentina at 15 years. ^[1][2]

Pelé celebrating winning the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico

Traditionally, Brazil's greatest rival is Argentina. The two countries have met each other four times in the history of the FIFA World Cup, with two wins for Brazil (West Germany 1974 and Spain 1982), one for Argentina (Italy 1990) and a draw (Argentina 1978). The country that played most against Brazil in the world cup is Sweden: 7 times, with five wins for Brazil and two draws. Three other historical rivals are Italy, which lost two World Cup finals against Brazil and eliminated the Brazilians in two tournaments (France 1938 and Spain 1982), France, which has defeated Brazil on three occasions (Mexico 1986, France 1998 and Germany 2006), and the Netherlands, which has eliminated Brazil at two of their five meetings (West Germany 1974 and South Africa 2010) and won the third place match in Brazil 2014.

Brazil won their first world cup final in 1958, 28 years after the first competition was held in 1930. The second longest streak before winning their fourth world cup title in 1994 came 24 years after winning their third title in 1970. Since earning their fifth world cup tournament in 2002, by 2026, it will have been 24 years since Brazil has last won the title, the same duration between the third and the fourth title.

Records

Main article: FIFA World Cup records and statistics

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930	Group stage	6th	2	1	0	1	5	2
1934	Round of 16	14th	1	0	0	1	1	3
1938	Third place	3rd	5	3	1	1	14	11
1950	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	1	1	22	6
1954	Quarter-finals	5th	3	1	1	1	8	5
1958	Champions	1st	6	5	1	0	16	4
1962	Champions	1st	6	5	1	0	14	5
1966	Group stage	11th	3	1	0	2	4	6
1970	Champions	1st	6	6	0	0	19	7
1974	Fourth place	4th	7	3	2	2	6	4
1978	Third Place	3rd	7	4	3	0	10	3
1982	Second group stage	5th	5	4	0	1	15	6
1986	Quarter-finals	5th	5	4	1	0	10	1
1990	Round of 16	9th	4	3	0	1	4	2
1994	Champions	1st	7	5	2	0	11	3
1998	Runners-up	2nd	7	4	1	2	14	10
2002	Champions	1st	7	7	0	0	18	4
2006	Quarter-finals	5th	5	4	0	1	10	2
2010	Quarter-finals	6th	5	3	1	1	9	4
2014	Fourth place	4th	7	3	2	2	11	14
2018	Quarter-finals	6th	5	3	1	1	8	3
2022	Quarter-finals	7th	5	3	1	1	8	3
2026	To be determined
2030
2034
Total	22/22	5 Titles	114	76	19	19	237	108

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Brazil's World Cup record
First match	Brazil 1–2 Yugoslavia  (14 July 1930; Montevideo, Uruguay)
Biggest win	Brazil 7–1 Sweden  (9 July 1950; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Biggest defeat	Brazil 1–7 Germany  (8 July 2014; Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
Best result	Champions in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002
Worst result	First round in 1934, group stage in 1930 and 1966

World Cup titles

Year	Manager	Captain	Goalscorer(s) in final
1958	Vicente Feola	Bellini	Vavá (2), Pelé (2), Zagallo
1962	Aymoré Moreira	Mauro Ramos	Amarildo, Zito, Vavá
1970	Mário Zagallo	Carlos Alberto Torres	Pelé, Gérson, Jairzinho, Carlos Alberto Torres
1994	Carlos Alberto Parreira	Dunga	N/A
2002	Luiz Felipe Scolari	Cafu	Ronaldo (2)

By match

Year	Round	Opponents	Score	Brazil scorers
1930	Group B	Yugoslavia	1–2	Preguinho
		Bolivia	4–0	Moderato (2), Preguinho (2)
1934	Round of 16	Spain	1–3	Leônidas
1938	Round of 16	Poland	6–5 (a.e.t.)	Leônidas (3), Romeu, Perácio (2)
	Quarter-finals	Czechoslovakia	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Leônidas
	Quarter-finals (replay)	Czechoslovakia	2–1	Leônidas, Roberto
	Semi-finals	Italy	1–2	Romeu
	Third place play-off	Sweden	4–2	Romeu, Leônidas (2), Perácio
1950	Group A	Mexico	4–0	Ademir (2), Jair, Baltazar
		Switzerland	2–2	Alfredo, Baltazar
		Yugoslavia	2–0	Ademir, Zizinho
	Final round	Sweden	7–1	Ademir (4), Chico (2), Maneca
		Spain	6–1	Ademir (2), Jair, Chico (2), Zizinho
	Final	Uruguay	1–2	Friaça
1954	Group A	Mexico	5–0	Baltazar, Didi, Pinga (2), Julinho
		Yugoslavia	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Didi
	Quarter-finals	Hungary	2–4	Djalma Santos, Julinho
1958	Group D	Austria	3–0	Mazzola (2), Nilton Santos
		England	0–0
		Soviet Union	2–0	Vavá (2)
	Quarter-finals	Wales	1–0	Pelé
	Semi-finals	France	5–2	Vavá, Didi, Pelé (3)
	Final	Sweden	5–2	Vavá (2), Pelé (2), Zagallo
1962	Group C	Mexico	2–0	Pelé, Zagallo
		Czechoslovakia	0–0
		Spain	2–1	Amarildo (2)
	Quarter-finals	England	3–1	Garrincha (2), Vavá
	Semi-finals	Chile	4–2	Garrincha (2), Vavá (2)
	Final	Czechoslovakia	3–1	Amarildo, Zito, Vavá
1966	Group C	Bulgaria	2–0	Pelé, Garrincha
		Hungary	1–3	Tostão
		Portugal	1–3	Rildo
1970	Group C	Czechoslovakia	4–1	Rivelino, Pelé, Jairzinho (2)
		England	1–0	Jairzinho
		Romania	3–2	Pelé (2), Jairzinho
	Quarter-finals	Peru	4–2	Rivelino, Tostão (2), Jairzinho
	Semi-finals	Uruguay	3–1	Clodoaldo, Jairzinho, Rivelino
	Final	Italy	4–1	Pelé, Gérson, Jairzinho, Carlos Alberto
1974	Group 2	Yugoslavia	0–0
		Scotland	0–0
		Zaire	3–0	Jairzinho, Rivelino, Valdomiro
	Group A	East Germany	1–0	Rivelino
		Argentina	2–1	Rivelino, Jairzinho
		Netherlands	0–2
	Third place play-off	Poland	0–1
1978	Group 3	Sweden	1–1	Reinaldo
		Spain	0–0
		Austria	1–0	Roberto Dinamite
	Group B	Peru	3–0	Dirceu (2), Zico
		Argentina	0–0
		Poland	3–1	Nelinho, Roberto Dinamite (2)
	Third place play-off	Italy	2–1	Nelinho, Dirceu
1982	Group 6	Soviet Union	2–1	Sócrates, Éder
		Scotland	4–1	Zico, Oscar, Éder, Falcão
		New Zealand	4–0	Zico (2), Falcão, Serginho
	Group C	Argentina	3–1	Zico, Serginho, Júnior
		Italy	2–3	Sócrates, Falcão
1986	Group D	Spain	1–0	Sócrates
		Algeria	1–0	Careca
		Northern Ireland	3–0	Careca (2), Josimar
	Round of 16	Poland	4–0	Sócrates, Josimar, Edinho, Careca
	Quarter-finals	France	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Careca
1990	Group C	Sweden	2–1	Careca (2)
		Costa Rica	1–0	Müller
		Scotland	1–0	Müller
	Round of 16	Argentina	0–1
1994	Group B	Russia	2–0	Romário, Raí
		Cameroon	3–0	Romário, Márcio Santos, Bebeto
		Sweden	1–1	Romário
	Round of 16	United States	1–0	Bebeto
	Quarter-finals	Netherlands	3–2	Romário, Bebeto, Branco
	Semi-finals	Sweden	1–0	Romário
	Final	Italy	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)
1998	Group A	Scotland	2–1	César Sampaio, Boyd (OG)
		Morocco	3–0	Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Bebeto
		Norway	1–2	Bebeto
	Round of 16	Chile	4–1	Ronaldo (2), César Sampaio (2)
	Quarter-finals	Denmark	3–2	Bebeto, Rivaldo (2)
	Semi-finals	Netherlands	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	Ronaldo
	Final	France	0–3
2002	Group C	Turkey	2–1	Ronaldo, Rivaldo
		China	4–0	Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo
		Costa Rica	5–2	Ronaldo (2), Edmílson, Rivaldo, Júnior
	Round of 16	Belgium	2–0	Rivaldo, Ronaldo
	Quarter-finals	England	2–1	Rivaldo, Ronaldinho
	Semi-finals	Turkey	1–0	Ronaldo
	Final	Germany	2–0	Ronaldo (2)
2006	Group F	Croatia	1–0	Kaká
		Australia	2–0	Adriano, Fred
		Japan	4–1	Ronaldo (2), Juninho, Gilberto
	Round of 16	Ghana	3–0	Adriano, Ronaldo, Zé Roberto
	Quarter-finals	France	0–1
2010	Group G	North Korea	2–1	Maicon, Elano
		Ivory Coast	3–1	Luís Fabiano (2), Elano
		Portugal	0–0
	Round of 16	Chile	3–0	Juan, Luís Fabiano, Robinho
	Quarter-finals	Netherlands	1–2	Robinho
2014	Group A	Croatia	3–1	Neymar (2), Oscar
		Mexico	0–0
		Cameroon	4–1	Neymar (2), Fred, Fernandinho
	Round of 16	Chile	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	David Luiz
	Quarter-finals	Colombia	2–1	Thiago Silva, David Luiz
	Semi-finals	Germany	1–7	Oscar
	Third place play-off	Netherlands	0–3
2018	Group E	Switzerland	1–1	Coutinho
		Costa Rica	2–0	Coutinho, Neymar
		Serbia	2–0	Paulinho, Thiago Silva
	Round of 16	Mexico	2–0	Neymar, Firmino
	Quarter-finals	Belgium	1–2	Renato Augusto
2022	Group G	Serbia	2–0	Richarlison (2)
		Switzerland	1–0	Casemiro
		Cameroon	0–1
	Round of 16	South Korea	4–1	Vinícius, Neymar, Richarlison, Paquetá
	Quarter-finals	Croatia	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)	Neymar

Head-to-head record

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Argentina	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2	050.00
Algeria	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Australia	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Austria	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Belgium	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	050.00
Bolivia	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Bulgaria	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Cameroon	3	2	0	1	7	2	+5	066.67
China	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Chile	4	3	1	0	12	4	+8	075.00
Colombia	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Costa Rica	3	3	0	0	8	2	+6	100.00
Croatia	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	066.67
Czechoslovakia	5	3	2	0	10	4	+6	060.00
Denmark	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	100.00
East Germany	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
England	4	3	1	0	6	2	+4	075.00
France	4	1	1	2	6	7	−1	025.00
Germany	2	1	0	1	3	7	−4	050.00
Ghana	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00
Hungary	2	0	0	2	3	7	−4	000.00
Italy	5	2	1	2	9	7	+2	040.00
Ivory Coast	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
Japan	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	100.00
Mexico	5	4	1	0	13	0	+13	080.00
Morocco	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00
Netherlands	5	1	1	3	5	10	−5	020.00
New Zealand	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Northern Ireland	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00
North Korea	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Norway	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Peru	2	2	0	0	7	2	+5	100.00
Poland	4	3	0	1	13	7	+6	075.00
Portugal	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2	000.00
Romania	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	100.00
Russia	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Scotland	4	3	1	0	7	2	+5	075.00
Serbia	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
South Korea	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	100.00
Soviet Union	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	100.00
Spain	5	3	1	1	10	5	+5	060.00
Sweden	7	5	2	0	21	8	+13	071.43
Switzerland	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	033.33
Turkey	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
United States	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Uruguay	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	050.00
Wales	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Yugoslavia	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Yugoslavia	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	033.33
Zaire	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00
Total	114	76	19	19	237	108	+129	066.67

Record players

Brazil's record World Cup player, Cafu is also the only player ever to have appeared in three consecutive World Cup finals: 1994, 1998 and 2002.

Cafu won the World Cup twice, in 1994 and in 2002, and is Brazil's record World Cup player.

Most matches played

Rank	Player	Matches	World Cups
1	Cafu	20	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
2	Ronaldo	19	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
3	Cláudio Taffarel	18	1990, 1994, 1998
	Dunga	18	1990, 1994, 1998
5	Roberto Carlos	17	1998, 2002, 2006
	Lúcio	17	2002, 2006, 2010
7	Jairzinho	16	1966, 1970, 1974
	Gilberto Silva	16	2002, 2006, 2010
9	Nílton Santos	15	1950, 1954, 1958, 1962
	Didi	15	1954, 1958, 1962
	Rivellino	15	1970, 1974, 1978
	Bebeto	15	1990, 1994, 1998

Most tournament appearances

Altogether eight players share the record of four participations. The goalkeeper Émerson Leão is the only one who has played four tournaments non-consecutively (not called at 1982).

Apps.	Name	Pos.	World Cups
4	Cafu	DF	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
	Castilho	GK	1950, 1954, 1958, 1962
	Djalma Santos	DF	1954, 1958, 1962, 1966
	Leão	GK	1970, 1974, 1978, 1986
	Nílton Santos	DF	1950, 1954, 1958, 1962
	Pelé	FW	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
	Ronaldo	FW	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
	Thiago Silva	DF	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022

Top goalscorers

With 15 goals, Ronaldo is the second-most successful striker in World Cup history, behind only Miroslav Klose (16).

Five Brazilians have won the World Cup Golden Boot Award over the years: Leônidas with 7 goals in 1938, Ademir with 9 goals in 1950, Garrincha and Vavá with 4 goals each in 1962 and Ronaldo with 8 goals in 2002.

Rank	Player	Goals	World Cups
1	Ronaldo	15	1998 (4), 2002 (8), 2006 (3)
2	Pelé	12	1958 (6), 1962 (1), 1966 (1), 1970 (4)
3	Ademir	9	1950
	Vavá	9	1958 (5), 1962 (4)
	Jairzinho	9	1970 (7), 1974 (2)
6	Leônidas	8	1934 (1), 1938 (7)
	Rivaldo	8	1998 (3), 2002 (5)
	Neymar	8	2014 (4), 2018 (2), 2022 (2)
9	Careca	7	1986 (5), 1990 (2)
10	Bebeto	6	1994 (3), 1998 (3)
	Rivellino	6	1970 (3), 1974 (3)

Players provided by club

Below is the list of clubs that have provided more than 5 players throughout the FIFA World Cup editions:^[3][4]

Club	Total players
Botafogo	47
São Paulo	46
Flamengo	36
Vasco da Gama	34
Fluminense	32
Corinthians	24
Palmeiras
Santos
Real Madrid	13
Atlético Mineiro	12
Barcelona	11
Cruzeiro
Roma	10
Internazionale	9
Paris Saint-Germain
Grêmio	8
Internacional
Milan	7
Benfica	6
Chelsea
Juventus
Manchester City
Portuguesa

Notes

• 1930: Some sources claim that players Doca (São Cristóvão) and Benevenuto (Flamengo) were not officially entered at the 1930 squad. This count includes Benevenuto and Doca. Araken never played for Flamengo, but he was registered as a club athlete just as a matter of formality, since APEA (São Paulo) was in a power struggle over command of Brazilian football with the CBD, situated in Rio de Janeiro. The player, in fact, had terminated with Santos and signed with São Paulo.^[5][6]
• 1934: This count does not include players who didn't travel to Italy and stayed on stand-by in Brazil: Almeida (Bahia), Bilé (Ypiranga-SP), Jaguaré (Corinthians) and Pamplona (Botafogo).^[7] Neither includes Domingos da Guia, barred from participating in the competition by Nacional Montevideo, who had already ceded Patesko and demanded a high compensation fee.^[8]

Awards and records

Team awards

• 1958 World Cup Champions
• 1962 World Cup Champions
• 1970 World Cup Champions
• 1994 World Cup Champions
• 2002 World Cup Champions

• FIFA Fair Play Trophy 1982
• FIFA Fair Play Trophy 1986
• FIFA Fair Play Trophy 1994
• FIFA Fair Play Trophy 2006
• Most Entertaining Team 1994

Individual awards

Golden Ball awards

• Golden Ball 1938: Leônidas
• Golden Ball 1950: Zizinho
• Golden Ball 1958: Didi
• Golden Ball 1962: Garrincha
• Golden Ball 1970: Pelé
• Golden Ball 1994: Romário
• Golden Ball 1998: Ronaldo (youngest Golden Ball winner of all time at 21 years)
• Silver Ball 1958: Pelé (youngest Ball award winner at 17 years)
• Silver Ball 1970: Gérson
• Silver Ball 1982: Falcão
• Silver Ball 2002: Ronaldo
• Bronze Ball 1950: Ademir
• Bronze Ball 1978: Dirceu

Golden Boot awards

• Golden Boot 1938: Leônidas
• Golden Boot 1950: Ademir
• Golden Boot 1962: Garrincha and Vavá (shared)
• Golden Boot 2002: Ronaldo
• Silver Boot 1958: Pelé (youngest Boot award winner at 17 years)
• Silver Boot 1970: Jairzinho
• Silver Boot 1986: Careca
• Silver Boot 2002: Rivaldo
• Bronze Boot 1950: Chico
• Bronze Boot 1982: Zico
• Bronze Boot 1994: Romário
• Bronze Boot 2006: Ronaldo
• Bronze Boot 2014: Neymar

Other individual awards

• Best Young Player Award 1958: Pelé (youngest Best Young Player award winner at 17 years)
• Man of the Match award 2002: Rivaldo

Awards as coaches of other nations

Brazilian coaches have appeared on the sidelines of other nations with some regularity. Three of them have won team awards with their nations:

• Otto Glória won Third Place with Portugal in 1966.
• Didi won the FIFA Fair Play Trophy with Peru in 1970.
• Luiz Felipe Scolari won the Most Entertaining Team award with Portugal in 2006.

Team records

• Most titles (5)
• Most participations (22)
• Most games played (114)
• Most victories (76)
• Most goals scored (237)
• Biggest goal difference (+129)
• Most sendings-off (11)
• Most finishes in the Top 8 (19) and Top 16 (22)
• Most consecutive wins (11) and matches without losing (13)
• One of two teams to have defended their title as champions (1962). The other being Italy (1938).
• One of two teams to have progressed to three consecutive World Cup finals (1994-2002). The other being Germany (1982-1990).
• Most wins in one tournament (7, 2002)
• Biggest goal difference as champion (+14, 2002), shared with Germany (2014)

Individual records

• Pelé holds a number of FIFA World Cup records:
  • Only player to win three FIFA World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970)
  • Youngest tournament winner (1958, at 17y 249d)
  • Youngest goalscorer (1958 v Wales, at 17y 239d)
  • Youngest hat-trick scorer (1958 v France, at 17y 244d)
  • Youngest goalscorer in a final (1958 v Sweden, at 17y 249d)
• Youngest Golden Ball winner: Ronaldo (1998, at 21y 9m 24d)
• Most appearances in an All-Star Team: Djalma Santos (3, 1954–1962) (shared with Franz Beckenbauer and Philipp Lahm)
• Most appearances as a substitute: Denílson (11, 1998–2002)
• Most tournament wins as player and coach: Mário Zagallo (3, 1958 & 1962 as player, 1970 as coach)
• Only player to appear in three consecutive FIFA World Cup finals: Cafu (1994, 1998 and 2002)
• Most team awards won: Cafu (4, 1994–2006)
• Most cautions: Cafu (6), shared with Zinedine Zidane and Rafael Márquez^[9]

See also

• Brazil at the CONCACAF Gold Cup
• Brazil at the Copa América
• South American nations at the FIFA World Cup