History:
1900-1948 The national football team did not participate in the Olympic Games (Paris'00, St.Louis '04, London '08, Stockholm '12, Antwerp '20, Paris '24, Amsterdam '28, Berlin '36, London '48).
1920-1979 Brazil only won a South American Cup title.
1930 At the World Cup in Montevideo (Uruguay), the Brazilian squad finished sixth...
1934 The Brazilian national team placed 13th at the FIFA World Tournament.
1938 The national squad finished third in the World Championships in Europe.
1940 Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelè, was born on October 23, 1940 in Tres Coracoes, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Under his leadership, Brazil earned three World Cup titles (1958, 1962, 1970). At 17 years old of age, he was already a first class player. He became one of the most famous athletes in the world.
1950 Brazil hosted the World Cup.This was the second time the World Cup had taken place in Latin America. During the World Cup final, the local team suffered one of its most humiliating defeats: Uruguay beat Brazil.
1952 The Brazilian men's soccer team competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time. Brazil became the fourth South American country to qualify for the Olympic Games...
1954 The national squad placed sixth at the FIFA World Championships.
1958 World Cup in Stockholm, Sweden. Seventeen-year-old footballer Edson Arantes of Brazil caused a sensation when he led the Brazilian team to World Cup title. Pelè became the youngest Latin American World champion ever...
1959 Pan American Games in the United States. The Brazilian men's soccer team made its first continental appearance...
1960 Rome, Italy. Brazil took part in its second Olympic Tournament.
1962 World Cup in Santiago de Chile. The national squad surprised everyone by finishing first. The soccer star Garrincha, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, was named the Most Valuable Player.Brazil became the second Latin American nation to win the World Cup...
1963 At the Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, host country, won the men's soccer tournament...Santos (Brazilian club) won the Intercontinental Cup for the second consecutive time...
1964 The national team qualified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
1964-1975 Brazil did not win any Copa Libertadores title.
1966 Brazil placed 12nd at the World Championships in London, England...Edson Arantes do Nascimento wrote in Sports Illustrated, "Nobody in the game had more fun than I did when I first became a professional. This honeymoon came to an abrupt end sometime around 1960. I was continually marked the whole time whenever and wherever I played, and if I avoided the marking, the boot went in. I've been kicked from pillar to post, particularly in those up-country league games where the home team decide this is the only way to stop Pelè and Santos. At first I was shocked, and then I became angry. Sometimes I hit back and because my name was Pelè, news of such incidents made every newspaper in Brazil..."
1968 Mexico City. At the Olympic Games, Brazil disappointed fans by finishing in 11th in place...
1970 Pelè led Brazil to victory in the World Championships in Mexico. The Brazilian squad won all its matches.
1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. Brazil could not qualify for the semi-finals. In the first round, they were beaten by Denmark and Iran...
1974 The national team placed fourth at the FIFA World Championships. They were favorites...
1976 The Brazilian soccer squad was eliminated in the semi-finals at the Summer Olympic Games in Montreal (Canada).
1978 The national team placed third in the World Championships in Buenos Aires-behind Argentina (host country) and Holland. Carlos Roberto de Oliveira and Dirceu Josè Guimaraes were the best players...
1979 The Brazilian team finished fourth at the Youth South American Tournament, but did not qualify for the Youth World Championships in Asia.
1982 World Championships in Spain. Brazil could not win the universal trophy. The Latin American squad was one of the favorites to win the global trophy...
1983 Brazil beat Argentina to take the World title in the men's football at the FIFA World Youth Cup in Mexico City...
1984 The national team claimed silver at the Summer Olympic in Los Angeles, California, USA. In the gold medal match, France beat Brazil 2-0.The best players were Gilmar Popoca and Carlos Caetano Bledorn ("Dunga").
1986 Mexico City. For the fourth time, Brazil failed to win the universal title.
1988 Brazilian people were amazed when they known that the Brazilian men's football team did not win the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. This South American team was one of the favorites. The best footballer was Romario de Souza.
1990 World Cup in Rome, Italy. The Brazilian men's soccer team placed 10th...
1991 Brazil did not participate in the Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.
1992 The Latin American squad did not qualify for the Olympics in Spain.
1994 Under the direction of Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazil became World champion in the United States. This South American nation was the 15th World champion. Ronaldo, 17, was the youngest member of the Brazilian team. Romario de Souza was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.
1995 During the Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, Honduras beat Brazil 1-0.
1996 During the Atlanta Olympic Games, the Japanese men's soccer team defeated team Brazil, which has never won an Olympic gold medal, 1-0. Japan gave a lesson of soccer...The squad South American took part in nine editions of the Summer Olympics between 1952 and 1996.
1996-1997 Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima, the undisputed leader of the Brazilian team, was elected the Most Valuable Player in the world. He has competed for Brazil in the past World Cup and the last Olympic Games.
1998 Paris, France. The national squad was runner-up at the FIFA World Cup. Like France, Argentina and Germany, Brazil was one of the favorites to win the universal title...
2002 South Korea & Japan. The Brazilian men's soccer squad earned the global title. During the World Cup final, Brazil played one of the best matches of its history against Germany. The score was 2-0...
2004 Kakà, whose original name is Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, became the United Nations World Food Program's Youngest Ambassador...The Olympic Soccer Tournament took place without Brazil.
2006 Brazil placed 7th at the FIFA World Cup in Germany...Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, created a task force, with experts of the ministry of foreign relations, human development, justice, economy, tourism and sports, to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Ricardo Teixeira, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), said, "With this procedure we intend to show FIFA, its president Joseph Blatter and the whole world football community how seriously the Brazilian government is working to make Brazil the host country for the 2014 Championship. I believe that, with this support, the process of candidacy is already at an advanced stage".
2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The local team placed fifth, behind Ecuador (gold medal), Jamaica (silver medal), Mexico (bronze medal) and Bolivia. In the first round, Ecuador beat Brazil 4-2...The FIFA chose Brazil to host the World Cup in 2014-30 percent of the facilities are already in place.
2008 Unlike Argentina (Athens 2004 & Beijing 2008), Uruguay (Paris 1924 & Amsterdam 1928), France (Los Angeles 1984), Great Britain (Paris 1900, London 1908, Stockholm 1912), Brazil did not win the Olympic gold medal... The Brazilian team is one of the favorites to qualify for the World Cup in 2010. This South American squad has qualified for all World Cups (1930-2006).
Alejandro Guevara Onofre: He is a freelance writer. Alejandro is of Italian, African and Peruvian ancestry. He has published more than seventy-five research paper in English, and more than twenty in Spanish, concerning the world issues, olympic sports, countries, and tourism. His next essay is called "The Dictator and Alicia Alonso". He is an expert on foreign affairs. Alejandro is the first author who has published a world-book encyclopedia in Latin America.
He admires Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter), José Gamarra (former president of the Bolivian Olympic Committee, 1970- 1982), Hillary Clinton (ex-First Lady of the USA), and Jimmy Carter (former President of the USA). Alejandro said: "The person who I admire the most is José Gamarra. He devoted his professional and personal life to sport. José played an important role in the promotion of Olympism in Bolivia -it is one of the Third World`s poorest countries- and Latin America. His biography is interesting". The sportspeople he most admire is Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman. "This African-American sportswoman is my idol... "
