Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Brazil with the national team among the best in the world.

They have won the World Cup a record 5 times.

Facts about Brazil

Brazil is the largest country in South America and the name Brazil comes from a tree named brazilwood.

Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world and has a population around 194 million people.

The official language spoken in Brazil is Portuguese and it is the only country in South America that speaks Portuguese.

The Amazon River flows through Brazil, it is the 2nd longest river in the world after the Nile.

There are around 2500 airports in Brazil and millions of tourists visit the country each year.

Pele scored a total of 1,283 first-class goals, including 77 for Brazil.

He won three World Cups, two World Club Championships and nine Sao Paulo State Championships.

PELE was born in October 1940 and was named after American inventor Thomas Edison, his real name being Edson Arantes do Nascimiento. He was nicknamed Dico by his family but he was called Pele by his soccer friends. Waldemar de Brito, another great Brazilian forward, discovered Pele, taking him to Santos, and telling them then that he was going to be "the greatest football player in the world." Pele was signed by Santos when he was 15. He scored four goals on his league debut in a match against FC Corinthians on 7 September, 1956.

At 17, Pele became the youngest ever winner of a World Cup. He also scored twice in the final against home side Sweden.

Pele was appointed as Minister of Sport in Brazil in 1995, serving until 1998.

He was voted athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999.

In 1997, Pele was given an honorary British Knighthood.

On the 19th November 1969, Pele scored his 1,000th career goal. Hundreds raced onto the pitch to mob the Brazilian star and it took over thirty minutes for the game to resume.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20 th FIFA world cup, and will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014.  It will be the second time that Brazil has hosted the competition, the first time being in 1950.  Brazil was elected as host nation in 2007 when FIFA decided that the tournament would be staged in South America for fifth time.

 A total of 64 matches are to be played in twelve cities across Brazil in either new or redeveloped stadiums, with the tournament beginning with a group stage. For the first time at a World Cup Finals, the matches will use goal line technology.

 The previous four World Cups staged in South America were all won by South American teams.

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Mexico has actually beaten Brazil more than any team in the world.

Argentina has beaten Brazil 33 times...next is Uruguay with 20 wins.

The greatest international football rivalry in the world, Brazil v Argentina is a battle between two of the strongest countries in international football.