Brazil is the only country to take part in all the Men’s and Women’s World Cups, and also the only one to win the cup five times in men’s football: a five-time champion! Learn about the details of these championships and what was happening politically, socially, economically, and culturally in Brazil and around the world at the time each one took place. Photos and videos portray leaders, beauty contestants, artists, dictators, anonymous fans, and football geniuses—all characters of the same story.
FIFA – Fédération Internationale de Football Association, a bilingual name that is also symbolic. It represents the passage of football from England, its country of origin, to France, the country from which, since the creation of the Olympic Games of the Modern Era in 1896, the main sporting and cultural events were launched to the world. It was in Paris, on the afternoon of May 21, 1904, that the new entity was born. Seven countries—France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland—signed the founding charter (England’s absence was justified by letter, and Germany’s membership was confirmed by telegram). From its earliest days, FIFA aimed to organize a world football championship, which was not to happen until a quarter of a century later. From 1908 to 1928, it could only get as far as including football in the Olympic Games program. But as early as 1921, Jules Rimet, whom the English would one day call ‘Mister Football,’ was elected as the organization’s third president, beginning the tireless struggle that would culminate in the first World Cup, in 1930. Quite rightly, the golden cup that he had commissioned from a French craftsman would be named after him in 1946 (it would be Brazil’s to keep). FIFA, which the Brazilian João Havelange presided over from 1974 to 1998, is today a politically and financially successful organization. It has 211 men’s national affiliated associations -- eighteen more than the United Nations (UN) -- and 129 women’s affiliated associations.
CBF—the Brazilian Football Confederation—has had other names and other constitutions. It began as the Brazilian Sports Federation (FBS), founded in Rio on May 8, 1914, on the same date as the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) foundation. It was up to the FBS to form the first Brazilian national team, which beat England’s Exeter City 2-0 in the historic friendly match on July 21 that year at Fluminense’s old ground. Frequent crises and splits in the early days resulted in the creation of parallel organizations in both São Paulo and Rio. The Brazilian Football Federation, founded by clubs from São Paulo in 1915, was the first of these, vying with the FBS for the right to govern football in the country. It wasn’t until two years later, with the Brazilian Sports Confederation (CBD) uniting the two, that Brazil was able to join FIFA. For a long time, the CBD would be an eclectic organization, home to various sports in addition to football. It would overcome other crises, such as the implementation of professionalism in 1933 (the origin of a new Brazilian Football Federation, dissident and unofficial, although the main clubs were in it). Peace was achieved in 1937 and since then the CBD has reigned supreme. In 1979, its eclecticism ended. Each sport now has its own confederation, with the current CBF succeeding the CBD in steering the course of our football.