We’ve finally narrowed down our 68-goal bracket to just eight glittering examples—an Elite Eight, if you will.
With just eight goals in this round, we can cover all the matchups in a single post. That means all of the goals that advanced from the last batch of voting are in contention once again, so in lieu of the recaps I’ve been doing, here are the results:
Kaká vs. Argentina 2006 (68%) beats Nelinho vs. Italy 1978 (32%)
Éder vs. USSR 1982 (63%) beats Adriano vs. Argentina 2005 (37%)
Carlos Alberto vs. Italy 1970 (85%) beats Careca vs. France 1986 (15%)
Marta vs. USA 2007 (58%) beats Edmilson vs. Costa Rica 2002 (42%)
You can view the whole bracket here.
And now…
TODAY’S VOTING
We open with a compelling matchup between a favorite and a massive underdog. The favorite is the number 1 seed of the whole tournament, Ronaldinho’s maiden goal for Brazil, which he scored at the end of a 7-0 win over Venezuela in the group stage of the 1999 Copa América.
Its competition is by far the lowest-seeded goal to have made it this far. Pelé’s solo effort sealed a 2-0 win over Mexico in Brazil’s first game of the 1962 World Cup, but was quickly forgotten by history—it didn’t even make FIFA’s list of Brazil’s 100 greatest World Cup goals. But the voters have given it its due, raising it from a lowly 41st on the seeding chart all the way to the quarterfinals. (Go to 0:39 in the video if the timestamp doesn’t work.)
Next, we have a tight battle between two top seeds. Roberto Carlos’ once-in-a-lifetime free kick in a 1-1 draw with France at the 1997 Le Tournoi friendly tournament will be hard to beat…
…but Pelé’s juggling act and finish midway through the 1958 World Cup final against Sweden has the power of a far bigger occasion on its side. (The video can’t be embedded, so watch it here.)
Here’s another matchup between a spectacular friendly goal and a legendary World Cup goal. The friendly goal is Kaká’s, wrapping up a 3-0 win against Argentina in 2006 by outrunning a young Lionel Messi. (Go to 8:41 in the video if the timestamp doesn’t work.)
The World Cup goal is Éder’s, breaking the deadlock in the 88th minute of Brazil’s opening match of the 1982 World Cup against the USSR.
Our last matchup is another high seed against an underdog. You know the high seed, you love it—it’s that Carlos Alberto goal that capped off our 4-1 win over Italy in the 1970 World Cup final.
Challenging it is the underdog 22 seed, Marta’s solo goal that capped off a 4-0 win in the 2007 Women’s World Cup semifinal against the USA. Even if it goes no further, it’s already established itself as the greatest goal ever scored for the Brazil women’s team.
Let’s give this round of voting a full week and wrap it up next Sunday night, August 2.
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