Friday 23 March 2018, 04:09

83 days to go: A history of Seleção success

The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ is getting closer – 83 days to go!

In less than three months' time – on 14 June, to be precise – the 21st FIFA World Cup™ kicks off at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, as the hosts take on Saudi Arabia.

That leaves us plenty of time to enjoy a countdown. Between now and the start of the World Cup, we will take a closer look at a different statistic from the history of the tournament each day.

83 If points were awarded for every FIFA World Cup™ match they have played, then Brazil would have won 83 per cent of those available to them. Winners of the competition a record five times (in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002) and the only nation to have contested all 21 world finals tournaments to date, O Pentacampeão have also recorded more victories than any other country: 70 in 104 matches, scoring 221 goals in the process.

Strangely, Brazil’s very first World Cup match ended in defeat, a 4-0 loss to Yugoslavia at Uruguay 1930. Their first win came in their very next game at that tournament: a 4-0 defeat of Bolivia. The most recent of their numerous World Cup victories was the 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia on home soil in 2014.

Brazil’s biggest World Cup win so far was a 7-1 defeat of Sweden at Brazil 1950, while the highest-scoring game they have been involved in was a 6-5 victory against Poland at France 1938.