All you need to know about Brazil ahead of the World Cup

Brazil World Cup 2018 profile: Ones to watch, best bets and more

19:41 · SAT June 16, 2018

Get to know it all about five-time World Cup winners and one of the tournament favourites Brazil ahead of this summer's event in Russia.

Brazil Factfile

FIFA World Ranking: 2
Sky Bet outright winner odds: 9/2
Best Bet: Gabriel Jesus to win the Golden Boot 18/1
World Cup appearances: 20
Best World Cup finish: Champions (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Nickname: The Selecao (The Squad) / Canarinha (Little Canary)

Coach – Tite (Adenor Leonardo Bacchi): Hired in 2016 to replace Dunga, Tite - pronounced “Cheechee”
- found himself in charge of a Brazil team languishing in sixth place in the South America qualifiers.

He has been successful at club level in Brazil, winning major honours with Gremio, Internacional and most notably Corinthians. After leaving Corinthians, Tite travelled to Europe to study football, spending time with Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.

Apparently he now sends analysis to his players via WhatsApp.

Legend – Pele: Brazil have had so many greats over the years but undoubtedly Pele has to top the list. With three World Cups to his name, he is also the country’s top scorer with 77 goals and is the embodiment of Brazilian football. One of the game's all-time greats.

Star Man – Neymar: The PSG forward will be hoping to be fully fit for the World Cup following a broken metatarsal. His last appearance at a World Cup saw him being stretchered off in tears following a challenge from Juan Zuniga of Columbia. The world’s most expensive player will be carrying the hopes of an entire nation on his shoulders.

Did you know? The only side to feature at every World Cup, Brazil are also the last side to have successfully defended their title - winning in 1958 and 1962.

Fun Fact: Ronaldo, who we all know as “The Phenomenon”, actually played under the name Ronaldinho at the beginning of his Brazil career. This is because there was already a Ronaldo in the Brazil squad, so the famous number nine adopted the nickname of Ronaldinho (Little Ronaldo), until the man we all came to know as Ronaldinho was called up to the squad in 1999.

Qualifying: After a shaky start Brazil finished top of the South America qualifiers, winning 12 of the 18 games played. They scored 41 goals and conceded 11, with Gabriel Jesus and Paulinho finishing as their two top scorers with seven and six goals respectively.

Group E Fixtures: Switzerland (7pm, June 17, Group E), Costa Rica (1pm, June 22, St Petersburg), Serbia (7pm, June 27, Moscow)

Brazil squad

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Roma), Ederson (Manchester City), Cassio (Corinthians).

Defenders: Danilo (Manchester City), Fagner (Corinthians), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG), Marquinhos (PSG), Miranda (Inter Milan) Pedro Geromel (Gremio).

Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Paulinho (Barcelona), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona), Willian (Chelsea), Douglas Costa (Juventus).

Forwards: Neymar Jr (PSG), Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool).

Brazil Profile

In Brazil, football is commonly referred to as Jogo Bonito, which translates as “The Beautiful Game”. Brazil come into this World Cup looking to lift the trophy for a sixth time, looking to avenge their 7-1 embarrassment by Germany at their home World Cup in 2014.

Neymar will carry Brazil's World Cup hopes if he's fit enough to play in Russia

The Selecao are the most decorated team in international football history with their five World Cup victories but they have not won the competition since 2002.

They come into this tournament with a new generation of players looking to engrave their names into the history of Brazilian football.

Who to watch out for

Neymar aside, Brazil have a squad of talented players all dreaming of becoming heroes in their homeland.

After scoring seven goals in 10 games in a great qualifying campaign, Gabriel Jesus will be eyeing up the tournament Golden Boot. The Manchester City forward looks to have solved Brazil’s ongoing striker issue and could be the missing piece of the puzzle as far as the Selecao are concerned.

Paulinho, once of Tottenham, has also had a remarkable qualifying campaign, scoring six goals from an attacking midfield position. Tite somewhat surprisingly called the midfielder into the squad after previously working with him at Corinthians. Despite preconceptions about him in English football he is one of Brazil’s most pivotal players and has played a big part in Barcelona’s title-winning season.

How did they qualify?

Despite a poor start, Brazil ultimately finished ten points clear at the top of their group. Taking just nine points from their first 18 available, then-manager Dunga was sacked and replaced by Tite. Brazil’s form improved dramatically, winning their next nine games, scoring 26 goals and conceding just two.

The team have goals throughout the squad with Gabriel Jesus finishing as their top scorer with seven, followed by Neymar on six, Paulinho on five, and Willian and Philippe Coutinho both on four.

What will I hear when they play?

One of the most memorable things of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was the spine-tingling rendition of the national anthem belted out by the Brazil players and fans before every match. As the music cuts out half way through and every Brazilian in the stadium continues to sing with frightening passion, it is hard to not get swept away in the emotion of the moment.

During the game you will be most likely to hear the Brazilian fans chanting “Eu sou brasileiro, com muito orgulho, com muito amor”, which translates into “I’m Brazilian, with a lot of pride, with a lot of love”. Doesn’t sound that catchy on paper but you might find yourself clapping along when the fans start singing.

Any interesting facts about Brazil?

Such is the importance of football to the Brazilian, if the team have a match scheduled, all the banks in the country shut three hours before kick-off.

Contrary to popular belief, the capital of Brazil is Brasilia and not Rio de Janeiro. Rio was the capital up until 1960 when Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer designed and built Brasilia in four years to provide a more central location for the capital.

Any famous football moments?

Just a few. Winners on five occasions, it's the 1970 Brazil team which is often cited as the greatest of all time. The team in yellow swept aside hosts Mexico 4-1 in the quarter-final before beating two-time champions Uruguay in the semis.

Their 4-1 demolition of Italy in the final, capped by Carlos Alberto’s iconic goal, is possibly the most accomplished World Cup performance of all time. The other three goals were provided by Pele, Gerson and Jairzinho, which demonstrates just how special a team that was.