Brazil stay second in all-time podium table as the 2030 pattern offers hope

Brazil stay second in the all-time podium table

Argentina's 2026 World Cup win pulled them level with Italy. Both now sit on 7 podium finishes, and France at 6 could still rise if Didier Deschamps' side wins the third-place match (2).

Brazil hold firm in second place with 9 podium finishes across World Cup history. Only Germany have more, at 12 (2).

Messi's third final appearance in 2026 matched a record set by Brazil's own legends, though the source does not name which ones (2).

A strange pattern Brazil can lean on for 2030

Every time Brazil have gone out before the quarter-finals, they won the very next World Cup. It happened after 1934 and again after 1966 (1).

Mauro Beting went deep on the 1966 disaster, 46 players called up, four training squads split by shirt colour, and a judo coach hired as fitness trainer. "It all went wrong," Beting said. Vicente Feola's selections compounded the mess (1).

João Havelange and Paulo Machado de Carvalho rebuilt everything after that. The question now: can Ancelotti, or whoever leads the next cycle, pull off what Feola's successors did? The pattern says yes. The preparation will need to look nothing like 1966 (1).

Fan reactions

The Ancelotti question is not going away. Fans are asking bluntly why he still has the job after the Norway exit, and it is the top thread on r/worldcup right now. Meanwhile, nostalgia is doing heavy lifting, one post marking the anniversary of the 1994 penalty shootout win over Italy, another reminding everyone that England have never beaten Brazil in a World Cup knockout match away from Wembley (1962 and 2002 both went your way). A separate thread dreaming up missed matchups is packed with people wishing they had seen Brazil–Argentina or Brazil–England at this tournament. Join the discussion