Soccer World Cup 1938 / Brazil
This article covers the Brazilian national soccer team at the 1938 World Cup in France .
qualification
Brazil should have played for qualification against Argentina in the two legs. However, as the Argentines withdrew their application, Brazil qualified for the World Cup without a fight.
Contingent
Note: Leônidas da Silva was the regular captain. Due to his injury, he was represented in the semi-final match against Italy by Martim Silveira, captain in 1934.
Games
Round of 16
June 5, 1938 | Strasbourg | Brazil | - | Poland | 6: 5 a.d. |
The highly dramatic game against Poland went 4: 4 into overtime. There Leônidas da Silva scored two goals before the Pole Ernst Willimowski was able to shorten with his fourth goal. Nevertheless, Brazil reached the quarter-finals 6-5.
Quarter finals
June 12, 1938 | Bordeaux | Brazil | - | Czechoslovakia | 1: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 1: 0) |
June 14, 1938 | Bordeaux | Brazil | - | Czechoslovakia | 2: 1 (0: 1) |
In the quarter-finals, Brazil met the strong Czechoslovaks , who showed themselves to be equal opponents. After no team could prevail in the first leg even in extra time, the Brazilians won the replay 2-1 thanks to a brace from Leonidas.
Semifinals
June 16, 1938 | Marseille | Italy | - | Brazil | 2: 1 (2: 0) |
In the semifinals, the Brazilians failed to Italy after they had previously won the games with luck and their football art shown for the first time in the world. The star of the team, Leonidas, was absent due to an injury sustained in the game against Czechoslovakia. Romeu only scored the goal for Brazil in the 87th minute to make it 1: 2.
3rd place match
June 19, 1938 | Bordeaux | Brazil | - | Sweden | 4: 2 (1: 2) |
After the disappointment of the semi-final defeat, the Brazilians were at least able to win the game for third place against Sweden . Although the Swedes led 2-1 at halftime, Leonidas (2) and Perácio turned the match to a 4-2 victory.
Remarkable
- Martim Silveira and Leônidas da Silva were the only players from the 1934 World Cup who were called up again.
- Leônida's seven World Cup goals in just four games are the second-most a Brazilian player at a World Cup today. That yield was only exceeded by Ademir de Menezes , who scored nine times in seven games in 1950 .