Brazil 1970: The best team in World Cup history?

With the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States due to get underway on 11 June, we are taking a look back at perhaps the best team in World Cup history: Brazil 1970.

In 1970, Brazil conquered the world with a team so fantastic that each flutter of O Canarinho’s (the Little Canary) wings blew a hurricane of inspiration through streets and cities from Mexico City to Rio de Janeiro, Dublin to Dakar and back again, tattooing memories everywhere with ever-lasting moments of magic.

Tracking their manoeuvres was a recipe for motion sickness. Between blinks, they could switch from a walking pace to a tempo so swift that they became apparitions of sunburst yellow hiding in your peripheral vision.

Brazil 1970: Emulating the 1958 and 1962 World Cup winners

Most World Cup titles in history
Brazil	1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002	5
Germany (incl. West Germany)	1954, 1974, 1990, 2014	4
Italy	1934, 1938, 1982, 2006	4
Argentina	1978, 1986, 2022	3
France	1998, 2018	2
Uruguay	1930, 1950	2
England	1966	1
Spain	2010	1

Every superhero has a compelling origin story and football’s equivalent of the Avengers, of course, has its own. In 1958 and 1962, Brazil were world champions, first in Sweden with Garrincha, Dalma Santos, Vava and Pele and then in Chile four years later with largely the same set of stars.

However, in World Cup 1966 in England, Brazil blew it under head coach Vicente Feola and with Pele carrying injuries, Garrincha aging, Djalma Santos embarking on his swansong and captain Bellini approaching 40, they exited at the competition’s group stage.

After the disaster of ’66, Pele, who was kicked from pillar to post during the tournament, was so bruised by the experience that he decided to retire from the international scene, though he would reverse that decision shortly after.

Even so, Pele’s return was not enough to smooth the stormy waters and Brazil went through six different managers between the summer of 1966 and 1969.

When controversial and outspoken Joao Saldanha was finally ousted before the qualification phase for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico began, the outlook for the Selecao was despairingly bleak.

However, a managerial masterstroke would spark a rapid reverse in fortunes. Regeneration and new ideas were required and Brazil turned to Botafogo boss Mario Zagallo for help.

Zagallo was a World Cup winner as a player with Brazil in 1958 and 1962 and at just 38, he was still young and relevant enough to relate to the country’s stars.

It did not take Zagallo long to work out how to reverse his predecessor, Joao Saldanha’s mistakes. Brazil were unable to cope with the physicality of the 1966 World Cup in England and Saldanha’s blueprint was constructed around ways to make the Brazilians a more combative force.

However, Zagallo’s philosophy was a complete rewrite and instead he switched focus back to the cornerstones of Brazilian football – skill, style, swagger and panache.

“What this team needs are great players, players who are intelligent”, Zagallo said when sharing his ideas. “Let’s go with that and see where it takes us.”

1970 World Cup qualification secured in style

With their shackles removed, a Brazil team infused with a new sense of freedom breezed through the CONMEBOL World Cup qualification stage in 1970, galloping to top spot in Group Two ahead of Paraguay, Colombia and Venezuela thanks to a perfect six wins from six.

Tostao and Pele shone brightest, netting 16 of Brazil's 23 goals between them, though the rise to prominence of free spirits like Clodoaldo, Rivellino and Jairzinho added new tantalizing dimensions to the team's football.

This was an era way before football became the game of numbers, inches and percentages it is today. Instead of robotically-drilled super athletes performing computer-generated patterns written by analytics experts and sports data scientists, you had a free-wheeling purity, an assemblage of players dripping with unbridled genius and instinctive individuality.

Zagallo’s Brazil were taking form. They were becoming the water seeping through every crack and crevice and they were about to burst through the damn in Mexico.

Brazil dominate 1970 World Cup Group Stage in Mexico

🏆 World Cup winners: 1930 to 2022
Year	Winner	Runner-up	Host
2022	Argentina	France (pen)	Qatar
2018	France	Croatia	Russia
2014	Germany	Argentina	Brazil
2010	Spain	Netherlands	South Africa
2006	Italy	France (pen)	Germany
2002	Brazil	Germany	Japan / S. Korea
1998	France	Brazil	France
1994	Brazil	Italy (pen)	USA
1990	West Germany	Argentina	Italy
1986	Argentina	West Germany	Mexico
1982	Italy	West Germany	Spain
1978	Argentina	Netherlands	Argentina
1974	West Germany	Netherlands	West Germany
1970	Brazil	Italy	Mexico
1966	England	West Germany	England
1962	Brazil	Czechoslovakia	Chile
1958	Brazil	Sweden	Sweden
1954	West Germany	Hungary	Switzerland
1950	Uruguay	Brazil (final group)	Brazil
1938	Italy	Hungary	France
1934	Italy	Czechoslovakia	Italy
1930	Uruguay	Argentina	Uruguay

The 1942 and 1946 tournaments were not held due to the Second World War. The 1950 tournament used a final round-robin rather than a knockout final.

Over 50,000 people swarmed through the gates at the Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara to watch Brazil’s first match at World Cup 1970 on 3 June and the South Americans put on a show for those in attendance in their Group Three opener against Czechoslovakia.

Brazil actually slipped behind to an early Ladislav Petras effort, though they roared back to equalize through Rivellino before the break and after the interval, a goal from Pele and a brace from Jairzinho allowed O Canarinho to stamp their authority on proceedings.

Brazil’s dominance was such that Pele attempted an audacious lob from the halfway line in the second half and though his effort to beat Ivo Viktor from distance narrowly missed, the vision and courage he showed to take the chance was a sign of the confidence flowing through Brazilian veins.

Three days later, Brazil played in Guadalajara again, this time against reigning champions England in what was an acid test of their aspirations.

Brazil won 1-0 thanks to a hit from Jairzinho after the interval, though the margin of victory should have been more comfortable.

England keeper Gordan Banks produced THAT iconic save from a downward Pele header, while captain Bobby Moore made a series of expertly-timed tackles as the last man.

Eventually, England cracked under the relentless Brazilian pressure when Pele played Jairzinho in for the winner.

Already through to the next phase, Brazil maintained their momentum on matchday three with a 3-2 triumph over Romania on 10 June, with Pele netting twice and Jairzinho prolonging his goal-a-game streak.

Passage to the quarter-finals was booked in some style and Zagallo’s Brazilian juggernaut was about to pick up speed.

Brazil in the knockout rounds of 1970 World Cup in Mexico

Brazil remained at the Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara for the World Cup quarter-finals where an assignment against Peru on 14 June was expected to be routine.

The Selecao made light of those expectations and played without apprehension against the Peruvians to the rhythm of the samba drums in the crowd.

Rivellino put them in front with a sumptuous first-time left foot cannon in the 11^th minute before Tostao doubled their advantage just four minutes later.

The Cruzeiro forward added another just after the break, before Jairzinho put the icing on the cake from an acute angle late on. Peru notched two consolation efforts, but never really threatened to mount a genuine challenge and Brazil were one step closer to glory.

On 17 June, Brazil returned to the Estadio Jalisco to face Uruguay – the team that had upset the script in 1950 when they beat the hosting Brazilians in the World Cup final at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro.

However, revenge was not on the agenda, at least for this generation of players. Words like vengeance were not part of the Joga Bonito (The Beautiful Game) vocabulary and Zagallo’s Brazil just wanted to play.

The Uruguayans would provide stiff opposition for a time in the semi-finals, however. They were well-drilled defensively and had tasked man-markers with sticking touch tight to Brazil’s main creators, Pele and Gerson.

Brazil slipped behind after 19 minutes when Luis Cubilla stole in, though a piercing move down the left allowed Clodoaldo to level the game up with a brilliant finish on the cusp of the interval.

That equalizer provided a powerful swing in momentum and in the second half, Brazil were in the ascendancy throughout. Jairzinho finished off another devastating team move through the middle before Rivellino added the cherry on top just before full time.

The semi-final was also made famous by an incredible iconic dummy when Pele bamboozled Uruguay keeper Ladislao Mazurkiewicz by stepping over a pass.

The Brazilian collected the ball on the other side of the confused stopper but could not convert it into an empty net, denying the World Cup one of its most spectacular goals.

Brazil beat Italy in 1970 World Cup Final

Brazil would taste the atmosphere of a new arena for the first time in the 1970 World Cup when they lined up against Italy in the competition’s final at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Over 100,000 expectant supporters filled every available space at the grand sporting cathedral which was located just beyond the urban sprawl in the borough of Tlalpan.

Billed as a clash between futebol arte (football art) and futebol de resultado (football for the result), the final was a skirmish between two hugely contrasting ideologies.

It was Brazil’s free-spirited fluidity against the architects of the defensive Catenaccio style, though the majority of those in attendance longed for a Brazilian victory.

It took Brazil just 18 minutes to break the Italians down. Rivellino looped a cross to the far post where Pele rose highest to bullet a header past Enrico Albertosi to net Brazil’s 100^th goal at World Cup tournaments.

That deadlock breaker should have set the tone, though an ill-conceived Clodoaldo backheel deep inside his own half was picked off in the 37^th minute, allowing Roberto Boninsegna to square things up against the run of play.

Keen to nip any Italian renaissance in the bud, Brazil exploded out of the blocks in the second half. Pele missed a guilt-edged opportunity to restore their lead before Rivellino landed a rocket from distance against the bar, however, Gerson powered in a beauty from range with his left foot after 65 minutes to spark rapturous celebrations.

Six minutes later it was three when a delicious raking pass from Gerson found Pele, who nodded the ball into the path of the advancing Jairzinho.

The prolific forward bundled the ball over the line and spun away with both arms aloft. He had set a new record with his awkward finish, becoming the only player ever to net in every single round at a World Cup finals.

With the safety of a two-goal buffer putting the Brazilians at ease, they began to dance and with two minutes on the clock, they weaved one of the most beautiful goals football has ever produced.

Containing nine passes, several body swerves, a layoff played with otherworldly vision and a first-time Exocet missile of a finish – it was a sequence so dazzling that it is still considered the best goal ever scored in the World Cup.

Clodoaldo, Gerson and Jairzinho were all involved in the slick build-up. It was exhibition stuff and they combined to feed Pele just outside the Italian box where Brazil's famous number 10 was waiting to play a pass to his right with all the casual sway of a father playing back garden ball with his infant son.

Rampaging fullback Carlos Alberto was galloping forward to meet it and he unleashed a shot with such ferocity that it nearly took the Italian net off.

4-1, game done and Brazil were World Cup champions for the third time.

Pele and Mario Zagallo break records

Pele’s assist was his sixth of the tournament – a haul that remains a record tally for a single World Cup tournament. Manager Mario Zagallo became the first man to win the trophy as a player and then as a coach and his team was the first since the 1930s to win all of their World Cup matches en route to lifting the trophy – six games six wins during qualification and six games six wins at the tournament proper.

Brazil scored a meaty 3.2 goals per game in Mexico – an average only bested by Hungary in 1982, whose numbers were padded significantly by a bizarre 10-1 triumph over El Salvador.

Pele retired from international football in 1971, realising that the only way was down after his and Brazil’s era-defining performances in Mexico a year before.

To this day, Zagallo’s Canarinho remain enshrined in World Cup and footballing mythology as arguably the greatest team to have played the game.