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🏟️ Maracanazo, the loss that changed Brazil
75 years on, Brazil has long recovered from the 1950 Maracanazo. But what was once a “national tragedy” can now be understood as a crucial moment in Brazilian (and global) football history
Euan Marshall
July 12, 2025
HISTORY
75 years on, Maracanazo takes its place in world football history
For Brazil, winning the 1950 World Cup was a national priority. But the Uruguayan squad had other plans. Photo: IMS
At São Paulo’s Museum of Football, housed inside the historic Pacaembu stadium, visitors can pore over a great collection of photographs, videos and artifacts that tell the victorious story of Brazilian football over generations. But, in order to get to the glory, there’s one room you have to go through first.
It’s a small, dark hallway, with a projector screen at one end, showing an uninterrupted black-and-white film reel of the decisive match of the 1950 World Cup, which Brazil famously lost to Uruguay in the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The Maracanazo…
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