India vs Brazil, a matchup not in EA SPORTS FC but in reality.
Football fans across India were buzzing when it was announced that the Brazil senior men’s national team would visit the country for the first time for a marquee fixture to be held at the VYBK Stadium, Kolkata, on 3 October.
Adding further spice will be fellow football powerhouse Uruguay, who are scheduled to take on the Blue Tigers at the same venue just three days later.
Two former FIFA World Cup winners are all set to play against India during a historic international window. However, there have been plenty of connections with the South American giants, and for that we will first have to rewind the clock to a golden era.
‘The Brazil of Asia’
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the likes of Garrincha, Pele and Didi were reinventing football with their mesmerising style of play as the Seleção went on to lift back-to-back FIFA World Cups and to this day remain the last team to have successfully defended their title.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Indian national team scripted history by becoming the first Asian nation to reach the semi-finals of the Olympics in 1956, at a time when the tournament used to be played with full-strength squads, unlike the U23 rule that is prevalent now.
In the quarter-finals, Neville D’Souza netted a hat-trick against hosts Australia in Melbourne under the tutelage of the legendary Syed Abdul Rahim, who is still considered the greatest head coach in Indian football history.
Under Rahim, India also emerged triumphant in the 1951 and the 1962 Asian Games, defeating Iran and Korea Republic respectively in the gold medal matches. The Blue Tigers again beat the Koreans in the third edition of the AFC Asian Cup in 1964 en-route to finishing as runners-up.
It was truly a golden period for Indian football, with the team’s entertaining style of football even earning the Indian national team the moniker “Brazil of Asia”.
Legends in the house
India was still a relatively young independent nation in contrast to the twilight years of Brazilian legend Pele’s career when he arrived in Kolkata with his club side New York Cosmos for an exhibition match against Mohun Bagan in 1977.
The Cosmos squad also featured Carlos Alberto Torres and Franz Beckenbauer, the captains of Brazil and Germany’s FIFA World Cup-winning teams in 1970 and 1974, respectively.
Carlos Alberto opened the scoring before Mohun Bagan responded strongly with goals from Shyam Thapa and Mohammed Habib. Giorgio Chinaglia rescued a 2-2 draw with a late penalty as the jam-packed crowd of more than 80,000 spectators in Eden Gardens witnessed the home team hold Pele & Co. in a thrilling affair.
Next up, it was the turn of the Uruguay national team to take centre stage in India as they were the star attraction of the inaugural edition of the now-defunct Nehru Cup in 1982. India put up a valiant performance against world-class opponents, going down 3-1 with Manas Bhattacharya scoring for the home side.
The tournament is remembered for the debut senior national team appearance of Enzo Francescoli, who went on to become one of Uruguay’s greatest ever players. Just a year later, several members of the squad that were in India would go on to lift the Copa America title after defeating Brazil in the final.
In 1985, one of South America’s most iconic clubs, Peñarol of Uruguay, were the guests for the IFA Shield. They edged East Bengal in a penalty shootout in the semi-final, followed by a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the final. Less than two years later, Peñarol lifted their fifth Copa Libertadores crown, cementing themselves as one of the continent’s traditional heavyweights.
Another multiple-time Copa Libertadores champion, São Paulo FC of Brazil, were in India for a series of exhibition matches in 1989, notably defeating India 4-0 in New Delhi before the hosts bounced back with a 2-2 draw in Bengaluru.
Club connections consolidated
With the turn of the new millennium, domestic club football in India began to flourish as the National Football League (now known as the Indian Football League) gained popularity, with the Brazilian duo of Beto and Barreto leaving an indelible mark on Indian football.
Midfielder Beto played in India for a decade, starring for Dempo SC as they famously reached the AFC Cup semi-finals in 2008 while winning four league titles in total — three with Dempo and another with Goan rivals Churchill Brothers.
Jose Ramirez Barreto, on the other hand, is widely regarded as the most iconic foreign signing in Mohun Bagan’s history, with his longevity endearing him to the club faithful, as he went on to score more than 230 goals in close to 400 appearances across two separate spells.
Things in India were soon about to be shaken up with the launch of the Indian Super League (ISL) in 2014. The ISL brought more money, more eyeballs and a more professional setup, and of course, the arrival of household names in a complete revamp of club football.
The inaugural season saw former Brazil and Manchester City midfielder Elano finish as the top scorer for Chennaiyin FC, with the following season seeing 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning legends Lúcio and Roberto Carlos turn out for FC Goa and Delhi Dynamos, respectively.
In the dugout, another Brazilian stalwart Zico was at the helm for FC Goa during the first three seasons. Other notable Brazilian footballers to have graced the ISL include Diego Maurício, Rafael Crivellaro, João Victor, Marcelinho and Cleiton Silva.
The advent of the ISL also meant the clubs started to explore new markets for foreign signings, including Brazil’s neighbours Uruguay. Federico Gallego, Adrián Luna and Emiliano Alfaro were notable Uruguayans who plied their trade in India. However, it’s one name that stands above the rest.
Ahead of the 2016 season, Mumbai City FC secured the services of 2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball winner Diego Forlán, with the signing of the Uruguayan legend creating global headlines. Forlán scored a stunning hat-trick against Kerala Blasters, en-route to guiding Mumbai City to finish top of the standings in the regular season.
Perhaps more surprising were a pair of Indian footballers daring to go on a South American adventure. Romeo Fernandes signed for Brazilian side Athletico Paranaense in 2015, while almost a decade later, Uruguay’s Colón FC signed Bijay Chhetri.
Although the pair only appeared briefly for their respective clubs, it is praiseworthy especially looking from a present time perspective when Indian football fans have been calling out the current crop of players who are reluctant to go out of their comfort zone to try and play club football in foreign shores.
Emerging talents visit India
You would be forgiven for thinking only veteran Brazilian football legends have played in India. In the 2016 BRICS U-17 Football Cup, footballers from the five member nations competed in Goa.
For context, BRICS is an organisation of major emerging economies in the world which comprises India and Brazil alongside Russia, China PR and South Africa, with the quintuplet being the inaugural members of the bloc.
Brazil beat India 3-1 in that 2016 tournament, with a certain Vinícius Júnior starring for the Brazilians as he went on to finish as the top scorer, with India’s goal coming from the boots of Komal Thatal.
Thatal would be one of India’s most hyped players when the nation hosted the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017, with Brazil finishing in third place.
India would once again be handed the hosting rights, this time for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in 2022, with Brazil being paired in the same group as they handed India a 5-0 defeat in Odisha.
A year prior to that, the Indian senior women’s national team became the first Indian national team (male or female) to face Brazil when the Blue Tigresses were invited to participate in a friendly tournament held in Manaus. The hosts ran out 6-1 winners, although Manisha Kalyan did score a stunning lone goal for India.
Grand welcome for Seleção, La Celeste
And so here we are in the present, counting down the days for the visit of Brazil and Uruguay senior men’s national teams to take on India.
The clash against Brazil is understandably the marquee fixture as the record FIFA World Cup champions will set foot in the country for the first time, while Uruguay return to India after 44 years.
It will also be a return to India after a decade for Forlán and Vini Jr, with the former recently appointed as the new head coach of La Celeste in August. Brazil, on the other hand, have their own iconic head coach in the form of Carlo Ancelotti.
Apart from Vini, key weapons at Ancelotti’s disposal for this match include two-time reigning UEFA Champions League winner with PSG, Marquinhos, Barcelona captain Raphinha, Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz and Arsenal duo Gabriel Magalhães and Bruno Guimarães.
Brazil will land in India straight from Australia, after Bournemouth winger Rayan rescued a last-gasp 1-1 draw against the Socceroos in their first clash before Brazil ran out 4-2 winners in their second clash days later in Brisbane.
Forlán’s Uruguay also had their own struggles in the absence of their injured captain Federico Valverde in their Japan-Korea tour, first going down 3-1 to Japan in Miyagi, although they followed that up with a more impressive 4-1 win over Korea Republic in Seoul.
On the flip side, India will be full of confidence coming into these upcoming matches with a 1-1 draw against a Panama side that recently featured at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Khalid Jamil’s India side dominated large portions of the game in what was one of the finest national team displays in recent years.
Ryan Williams was on target for India in a historic night in Bengaluru, as the match marked the highest-ranked opponent the Blue Tigers have ever earned a result against (Panama ranked 44th). The stark contrast between the two teams is further evident as 94 places separated them prior to the fixture.
It is still a far cry to expect results against Brazil or Uruguay, but if India can produce a similar performance, fans will get their money’s worth and a lifetime of memories.
