The national team break is here and with it will come a good handful of great games that no one will want to miss and, quite possibly, England vs Brazil next Saturday, March 23, will be one of the most important of all.
Next weekend: England v Brazil! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/iP0Bv11bBy
— England (@England) March 17, 2024
These two teams, world champions and with a great history in their respective confederations, will collide in a friendly preparation, thus adding another chapter to this beautiful rivalry that has already accumulated 26 matches and this week they will add their twenty-seventh historic duel.
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England vs Brazil: How is the balance of matches between both?
The first recorded match between these two teams was a friendly match in 1956. In that first match, England hosted Brazil at the old Wembley Stadium, winning 4-2 with doubles from Tommy Taylor and Colin Grainger. . Paulinho and Didi were the scorers for Brazil.
After almost 70 years since that match, Brazil and England have faced each other twenty-six times and, despite having started this beautiful rivalry with a defeat, the Seleção turned the balance in their favor, winning practically all the matches against the Three lions.
Touch. Finish. 🔥@themichaelowen against Brazil at @wembleystadium #OnThisDay in 2000! pic.twitter.com/CYOIrjTbtL
— England (@England) May 27, 2023
Brazil has managed to win eleven times, while England has only managed to accumulate four victories. But what about the rest of the games? Simple, ties.
Draws are the second most common result in this direct clash between Brazil and England, having drawn a total of eleven times.
A sensational first #ThreeLions goal against Brazil at the Maracana 😱
Happy birthday, @officialbarnesy ! 🎉pic.twitter.com/R6liWv8dEk
— England (@England) November 7, 2022
As if that were not enough, these two teams have only met face to face in official tournaments on four occasions and the rest of the matches have been friendly. Fortunately for Brazil and unfortunately for England, the balance has been very positive for the green and yellow in these official tournaments, all of which are in the World Cup.
- England vs Brazil matches
- Brazil Victories : 11
- Ties : 11
- England wins : 4
The last duel, a decaffeinated 0-0 at Wembley
To find the last clash between these two teams we must go to 2017, specifically to November 14, the date on which England received the team then led by Tite at Wembley.
In that match, England had players of the stature of Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Loftus-Cheek, John Stones, Joe Hart and Kyle Walker, while Brazil took the field with legends such as Dani Alves, Marcelo, Casemiro and Neymar and others great talents like Gabriel Jesús, Coutinho, Marquinhos or Alisson.
However, despite having great stars on both sides, the event ended with a weak 0-0, adding another tie to the long list of parities between these two national teams.
The 2002 World Cup, the most memorable clash between both
Now, when thinking about a match between England and Brazil, it is impossible not to mentally transport ourselves to that magical match in which Ronaldinho became known worldwide.
The year was 2002 and the Brazilian National Team faced the World Cup in Korea/Japan with a lot of optimism and the desire to make history. After beating Belgium solidly in the round of 16, Brazil had the difficult task of doing the same against England in the quarterfinals, a country that had just beaten Denmark 3-0 in the previous phase.
Há exatamente 19 anos, @10Ronaldinho brilhou na vitória do Brasil pra cima da Inglaterra, nas quartas de final da Copa de 2002. Com uma assistência e um gol histórico de falta, o Bruxo comandou a virada e manteve a #SeleçãoBrasileira no caminho do penta! Quem lembra?
📸: FIFA pic.twitter.com/swayjxf46T
— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) June 21, 2021
The event did not start in the best way for Brazil, since Michael Owen made a solid shot that ended up hitting the net protected by Marcos Roberto and signed the temporary 1-0 for his team.
However, it is in these adverse situations that the stars shine brightest and, at minute 45+2, Ronaldinho gave an assist to Rivaldo, who made it 1-1 before the end of the first half.
Already in the second half, around the 50th minute, with a memorable, historic and legendary free kick goal, Ronaldinho scored what would be the final 1-2 and, a few minutes later, was sent off for a strong foul.
The rest is history. Brazil would advance to the semis to clash with Turkey and eventually beat Germany in the grand final, this being the Seleção’s last World Cup title to date.
Other history in world cups
If we go down a little further in the history of matches between these two teams, we find three more matches in the World Cup. In the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, Brazil and England clashed in the group stage and everything ended with a 0-0 draw.
In the 1962 World Cup in Chile, these two teams would meet in the quarterfinals and Brazil won with a solid 3-1 with a double from Mané Garrincha and one more goal from Vavá.
To close, in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, Brazil would once again beat England in the group stage with a modest 1-0, the work of Jairzinho.
