There are 29 of them, but there could be fifty or a hundred, so many were the creators of the football-art practiced in Brazil. Gods or heroes, idols of several generations, who can also be seen as angels in a cathedral where the invention, poetics, and magic of the game are worshiped. True works of baroque art.
BEBETO Salvador, BA, 1964
An excellent striker, he specialized in first touches, at speed, always moving towards scoring a goal. He succeeded Zico at Flamengo and was Romário’s ideal partner in the 1994 Tetra (fourth-time champions) campaign. He also played for Vasco and Botafogo, and for clubs in Spain, Mexico, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.
Photos: Fabio M. Salles / AR e Ivo Gonzalez / Agência O Globo
CARLOS ALBERTO TORRES Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1944 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2016
The ‘Captain of the Tri’, as he became known after 1970, remains the perfect example of the modern fullback following the generation of Nílton Santos. He had a refined technique, class, balance, and was as effective in defense as setting up and attacking play. He played for Fluminense, Santos, Botafogo, and New York Cosmos.
Photos: Equipe AE / AE / Rights Reserved
CRISTIANE Osasco, SP, 1985
The top scorer at the Olympic Games among both men and women, she is a skilled finisher with the notorious Brazilian ginga. She was silver medalist at the Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008) Olympics. A finalist at the 2007 World Cup. Gold medalist at the Pan American Games in Rio (2007) and Toronto (2015). She played for Santos, with whom she won the Libertadores twice (2009 and 2010), Paris Saint-Germain (France), and was the first Brazilian to play in the Bundesliga. In 2019 she returned to Brazil to play for São Paulo.
Photos: AMA / Corbis via Getty Images and Stuart Franklin / FIFA via Getty Images
DIDI Campos, RJ, 1929 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2001
The sinuous dribble, the effective pass and the ‘dry leaf’ technique are some of the contributions of his style to Brazil’s second World Cup championship title. The international media considered him the best player at the 1958 World Cup – he was a survivor of the 1954 debacle. A cool, cerebral player, his presence on the pitch had, for Nelson Rodrigues, the nobility of an ‘Ethiopian prince’.
Photos: Alberto Ferreira / CPDoc JB and Revista El Grafico Argentina / Rights Reserved
DJALMA SANTOS São Paulo, SP, 1929 – Uberaba, MG, 2013
It took just one match, the final against Sweden, for him to become the best right-back in the 1958 World Cup. Four years later, already a regular starter, he won Brazil’s second title in Chile. In 1963, he was the only Brazilian in the FIFA team to play against England in the centenary of football. A star for Portuguesa and Palmeiras, he won several state and national titles. Balance, quick thinking, technique, and physical strength. A great supporting player. Relentless when it came to marking, never resorting to fouls to beat an opponent.
Photos: Alberto Ferreira / CPDoc JB
FALCÃO Abelardo Luz, SC, 1953
The most outstanding playmaker of his generation, he brought together all the qualities required by the total, solid football of the turn of the 1980s: creativity, dynamics, tactical knowledge, attacking power. He was crowned ‘King of Rome’ after five years playing in Italy. He started out at Internacional in Rio Grande do Sul and retired in São Paulo.
Photos: Anibal Philot / Agência O Globo and Almir Veiga / CPDoc JB
FORMIGA Salvador, BA, 1978
Over twenty years with the Brazilian national team has made her the player with the most caps and the only one to take part in seven World Cups and six Olympic Games. With her quick and precise passing, good tackling, and outstanding eye, the midfielder has played for Malmö FF Dam (Sweden), Santos, São Paulo, Paris Saint-Germain (France), and São José (SP), where she won the Copa Libertadores three times and the Club World Cup. She won silver at Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008), and gold at the Pan American Games in 2003, 2007 and 2015.
Photos: Julian Finney / Getty Images / Simon Bruty / Sports Illustrated / Getty Images
GARRINCHA Pau Grande, RJ, 1933 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1983
More than a star, a phenomenon. More than a phenomenon, a symbol. Of how the impossible – like the very country where he was born – can become possible: crooked legs, illiterate, immature, an unruly life, a repertoire of moves limited to a predictable dribble down the right. Despite all that, he was one of the greatest of all times and places. A two-time world champion (the second title was mainly his doing), he played as if he were playing about. And by playing about, he became a weapon feared by every defender in the world.
Photos: Equipe AE / AE / Rights Reserved
GÉRSON Niterói, RJ, 1941
‘Canhotinha de Ouro’ (Golden Left Foot) is one of those rare Brazilian players who only needed his left foot to impose an exquisite art on the ball. With one difference: unlike most, he was a technician on the pitch, a strategic midfielder, an organizer, a master of vision. A champion with Brazil’s third title win in Mexico in 1970, he also played for Flamengo, Botafogo, São Paulo, and Fluminense.
Photos: Equipe AE / AE / Rights Reserved
GYLMAR Santos, SP, 1930 – São Paulo, SP, 2013
Serenity – in a position where, as well as solitary, the goalkeeper is being permanently betrayed by nerves – was decisive for Brazil’s second title in Sweden and Chile. Serenity combined with good reflexes, attentive eyes, steady hands, and elasticity for great leaps.
Photo: Equipe AE / AE / Rights Reserved
JAIRZINHO Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1944
He scored in all of Brazil’s matches in the victorious 1970 World Cup, when he was at his physical and technical peak. His impetus, his goal-scoring runs, and the way he beat the defenders before him earned him the nickname ‘Hurricane of the World Cup’. A revelation at Botafogo, he also played for Cruzeiro (MG) and in France, Venezuela, and Ecuador.
Photo: Equipe AE / AE / Rights Reserved
JULINHO BOTELHO São Paulo, SP, 1929 – São Paulo, SP, 2003
Through bad luck (he was playing in Italy in 1958 and was injured in 1962), he didn’t play in the two World Cups won by Brazil. Even so – fast, a remarkable short dribble, creative, a powerful shot – he established himself as Brazil’s most well-rounded right-winger and one of the best in the world. A champion at Portuguesa and Palmeiras. An idol – and also a champion – for Italy’s Fiorentina. With a spectacular performance, he turned one of the biggest boos ever heard at the Maracanã into an ovation when, a year after winning his first World Cup, he replaced Garrincha in a friendly against England.
Photos: Folha Imagem / Rights Reserved
MARTA Dois Riachos, AL, 1986
With a powerful left-footed shot and enviable speed, her ability has made her the only player to have been voted FIFA World Player of the Year six times, as well as taking the title of top scorer for the Brazilian national team upon surpassing the 100-goal mark in 2015 – an unprecedented feat for both men and women. She was Gold medalist at the Pan American Games in 2003 and 2007. She played for Umeå IK (Sweden), winning the UEFA Champions League (2004), for Santos, winning the Libertadores (2009) and the Copa do Brasil (2009), and for FC Rosengård (Sweden), and Orlando Pride (USA).
Photos: GLYN KIRK / AFP / Getty Images / MICHAEL BUHOLZER / AFP / Getty Images
NÍLTON SANTOS Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1925 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2013
Dubbed the ‘Encyclopedia of Football’, he was the perfect link between the classic style of Domingos da Guia, who preceded him, and the role of the attacking fullback played by Carlos Alberto Torres, who succeeded him. Nílton Santos, due to his talent (and his vocation as a striker brought over from playing in Flecheiras), was the first fullback to consciously project himself into the opponent’s half, a boldness not allowed until then. A lifelong Botafogo player, he was a regular in the teams that won Brazil its first world titles.
Photo: Acervo Roberto Porto / Rights Reserved
PELÉ Três Corações, MG, 1940 – São Paulo, SP, 2022
Athlete of the century, the King, the greatest in history, a genius, living proof that perfection exists; all praise has been lavished on him. Perfect when dribbling, passing, setting up, heading, shooting, and scoring. His talent is the precious fusion of the beautiful and the efficient, the inventive and the irresistible. Added to the three World Cups, the two club World Cups, and the countless state and national titles, is a record: the 1,282 goals he scored. With his career in Brazil over, he set off on another challenge: teaching Americans to love football.
Photos: Alberto Ferreira / CPDoc e Equipe AE / AE / Rights Reserved
RIVALDO Recife, PE, 1972
An advanced midfielder, the Brazilian national team relied heavily on his short dribbles, body rolls, first touches, and accurate shots to win the Penta. His first club was Santa Cruz, followed by Mogi Mirim, Corinthians, and Palmeiras. He went on to win championships in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Uzbekistan. Back in Brazil in 2011, he played for São Paulo, São Caetano, and Mogi Mirim.
Photos: Paulo Pinto / AE and Robson Fernandjes / AE
RIVELLINO São Paulo, SP, 1946
Due to the efficiency of his left foot, some people compared him to Gérson. But neither Rivellino was as tactical, nor Gérson as offensive, differences that were evident when they played together in the Tri campaign. A superstar and idol of Corinthians and Fluminense – of whose ‘Máquina Tricolor’ he was the main star. His last year was with Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
Photos: Equipe AE / AE / Rights Reserved
ROBERTO CARLOS Garça, SP, 1973
The owner of a very powerful shot, capable of making the ball travel at a speed of 120 km/h. An excellent free-kick taker, he played for Brazil between 1992 and 2006, taking part in the 2002 World Cup. He was a two-time Brazilian champion with Palmeiras (1993 and 1994) and won the UEFA Champions League three times with Real Madrid (1998, 2000, and 2002).
Photos: Robson Fernandjes / AE and Shaun Botterill / Allsport / Getty Images
ROMÁRIO Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1966
Swift, decisive, opportunistic, precise, the last successful representative of the traditional center-forward, the one whose field of action is the opponent’s penalty area, rarely dropping further back. True to this style, he scored over a thousand goals for clubs in Brazil, Holland, Spain, and Qatar. Voted best player at the 1994 World Cup.
Photos: Tasso Marcelo / AE and Paulo Pinto / AE
RONALDINHO GAÚCHO Porto Alegre, RS, 1980
He made a name for himself at the age of 17 at Grêmio (RS) and soon made it to the national team. He was one of the most technical and creative controllers of the ball in the world. He shone at Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, and AC Milan. Then Flamengo and Atlético Mineiro, where he won the Copa Libertadores in 2013.
Photos: Nilton Fukuda / AE and Alex Silva / AE
RONALDO Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1976
The Italians called him ‘Phenomenon’, a term that became his last name. A remarkable striker. With his goal-scoring runs, he modernized the role of the centre-forward played by Romário, for whom he was a substitute in 1994. Voted best player in the world three times, he played in Holland, Spain, and Italy. A five-time World Cup winner in 2002, he was the top scorer. He returned to Brazil in 2009 and became an idol at Corinthians.
Photos: Joedson Alves / AE and Robson Fernandjes / AE
SISSI Esplanada, BA, 1967
A member of the first women’s national team in 1988, she reigned supreme in the 1990s. The classic number 10: a playmaker and commander on the pitch. She was top scorer at the 1999 World Cup with seven goals. In 2000, she was named the second best player in the world. She is the only Brazilian to be part of FIFA Legends, as well as being the author of the first Golden Goal in the history of the Women’s World Cup.
Photos: Tony Marshall / EMPICS via Getty Images
SÓCRATES Belém, PA, 1954 – São Paulo, SP, 2011
A technician, smart, the ‘Doctor’ (a graduate in medicine) always found the place between midfield and attack where he could best serve his team tactically – Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto (SP), Corinthians (with whom he was a three-time champion), Flamengo, Santos, Fiorentina in Italy and the Brazilian national team. The two Cups he lost in 1982 and 1986 didn’t take the shine off him as one of the greats of the 1980s.
Photos: Reginaldo Manente / Equipe AE / AE / Rights Reserved
TAFFAREL Santa Rosa, RS, 1966
One of the most conscientious goalkeepers in Brazil, he knew what the position required in terms of special training, both physical and psychological. Few prepared so hard and so well. That’s why he saved so many decisive penalties, one of them in the 1994 Tetra final against Italy. Revealed by Internacional (RS), he was the first Brazilian goalkeeper to make a career in Europe, playing in Italy and Turkey.
Photos: Celio Jr / AE and Paulo Pinto / AE
TOSTÃO Belo Horizonte, MG, 1947
When he saw Tostão win Brazil’s third World Cup in 1970, Scottish journalist Hugh McIlvanney predicted that his star profile would be reflected in the best football of the following World Cup. In fact, Tostão wouldn’t be there (he was to retire a year earlier), but his vision of the game, his use of space, his constant alternation of positions, his tactical intelligence, all exercised with an exquisite individual technique, would make him the most modern player of his time and a foretaste of what Johann Cruyff and his ‘Dutch carousel’ would display in 1974 in Germany.
Photos: Arquivo / Agência O Globo / Rights Reserved
VAVÁ Recife, PE, 1934 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2002
A defense breaker, strong, courageous, taking on the toughest markers with an unflinching stance, he is not to be confused with players of these qualities, the so-called ‘tanks’. As well as physical vigor, Vavá also made use of his technique, which helped him become Brazil’s top scorer in the victorious 1958 and 1962 campaigns.
Photos: Rights reserved and Revista El Gráfico Argentina / Rights reserved
ZAGALLO Maceió, AL, 1931 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2024
Zagallo is a winner. More than that, in the history of world football, he is a record title-winner: twice world champion as a player, once as a coach and once as an assistant coach. He is also a tireless worker. For his simple, practical, supportive, intelligent, and hard-working football, he was nicknamed Formiguinha (‘Little Ant’). A star of a generation destined to win. Just like him.
Photos: Rights Reserved
ZICO Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1953
A sophisticated fitness programme transformed the slight boy who arrived for training at Flamengo in 1971 into an athlete, and then into the greatest idol in the club’s history. A possessor of a refined technique. Dribbles, goal-scoring runs, speedy tackles, free-kicks, a scorer’s instinct – he lacked nothing. Missing a penalty in the game that eliminated Brazil from the 1986 World Cup robbed his biography of the consecrating, definitive chapter it deserved.
Photos: Sergio Sade / Placar / Dedoc Abril and Hipólito Pereira / Agência O Globo
ZIZINHO São Gonçalo, RJ, 1921 – Niterói, RJ, 2002
The most accomplished Brazilian player of the 1940s and 1950s. It’s no coincidence that he was called ‘Master’ even by his opponents. And it’s no coincidence either that he was the model of star player that Pelé was inspired by when he met him up close in 1957, the year of the 16-year-old’s debut at Santos and the 36-year-old’s triumph at São Paulo. Before that, Zizinho had played for Flamengo and Bangu. A master of creating moves, passing, short dribbles, tactical positioning, and shooting, he was voted the best player in the 1950 World Cup when an Italian journalist viewed him as a Leonardo da Vinci “creating masterpieces with his feet.”
Photo: AE / Rights Reserved