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After literal months of nominating, voting, and eliminating, we’ve finally whittled down our bracket of 68 goals down to two. It’s time, at long last, to choose the greatest goal in the history of the Brazil national football team.
Let’s meet our contestants, and relive the path each took on its way to the final.
Continue readingWe’ve finally narrowed down our 68-goal bracket to just eight glittering examples—an Elite Eight, if you will.
Continue readingIn the first of the second-round votes…
Ronaldinho’s first goal for Brazil notched a routine win over Marcelo’s 2011 goal against Mexico, garnering 72% of the vote.
In a contest that wasn’t settled until the final hours of voting, Neymar’s opening goal at the 2013 Confederations Cup beat Josimar’s long-range shot against Ireland in 1986, with 56% of the vote.
Another very close contest saw Josimar’s goal in the following game against Poland win 54% of the vote over Roberto Carlos’ forgotten “banana shot” against Jamaica, which became the highest-seeded goal to be knocked out so far.
Lastly, and to my genuine surprise, Pelé’s forgotten goal against Mexico in the 1962 World Cup completely wiped the floor with Adriano’s goal in the 2004 Copa América final, with 73% of the vote. I nominated Pelé’s goal in the first place and have long thought it deserved more attention, and even so, I went with my gut and voted for Adriano’s strike, based on the combination of technique and last-second clutch-ness. Apparently, I was fairly alone on that call, but I’m not complaining—this was just one of the most unexpected results of the whole bracket so far.
You can view the whole bracket here.
And now…
At long last, we are done with the first round. In the last block of first-round voting…
Carlos Alberto’s legendary World Cup final goal advanced by unanimous consent over Oscar’s legendary U-20 World Cup final goal:
Edmilson’s bicycle kick against Costa Rica in 2002 beat Pelé’s goal from the 1970 World Cup final with 60% of the vote:
Bebeto’s volley against Argentina in the 1989 Copa América earned 88% of the vote over Cafu’s goal against Wales in 2000:
And Marta’s legendary goal against the USA at the 2007 World Cup garnered 92% of the vote over Cristiane’s overhead kick against Nigeria at the 2008 Olympics.
You can view the whole bracket so far here.
And now…
In the last round of voting…
Ronaldinho’s solo goal against Haiti in 2004 upset Neymar’s volley against Mexico in the 2013 Confederations Cup, managing 55% of the vote:
Kaká’s opener against Egypt at the 2009 Confederations Cup scooted past Paulinho’s long-range shot against Uruguay in a 2017 World Cup qualifier, with 65% of the vote:
Éder’s game-winning goal from the opening match of the 1982 World Cup got 91% of the vote over Rivelino’s clinching goal in the 1989 World Cup of Masters final:
And Oscar’s goal against Belarus at the 2012 Olympic Games beat out Daniela’s opener against Norway in the 2008 Olympic quarterfinal, with 71% of the vote:
You can peruse the whole bracket here.
Now for…
In the last set of voting…
Jairzinho’s goal against England in the 1970 World Cup group stage garnered 84% of the vote against Elivelton’s run through the Czechoslovakian defense in 1991:
Bebeto’s goal against the Netherlands in the 1994 World Cup quarterfinal beat Careca’s bicycle kick against Argentina in 1985 with 72% of the vote:
Elano’s smash against Portugal in 2008 beat out Careca’s volley against Chile in the 1993 Copa América with 64% of the vote:
And with 92% of the vote, Pelé’s juggling act in the 1958 World Cup final against Sweden trounced Formiga’s equalizer against Germany in the 2008 Olympic semifinal.
And now for
The votes have been tallied and the four “16-seeds” from Brazil youth teams have been chosen:
With 61% of the vote, Paulinho’s goal against Germany in the 2017 U-17 World Cup beat out Weverson’s goal in the same game…
With 86% of the vote, Maicon’s solo goal vs. Paraguay in the 2004 Pre-Olympic Tournament advances over Adaílton’s volley against South Korea in the 1997 U-20 World Cup…
By unanimous (!) consent, Ronaldo’s goal in a U-23 friendly against Denmark in 1996 beat out Cássio’s half-volley against Mali in the 1989 U-20 World Cup…
And after a slow start, Oscar’s game-winning goal in the 2011 U-20 World Cup Final against Portugal beat out Walter’s super-long-range strike in the 2009 South American U-20 Championship.
Now for…
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