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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 last round of voting…
Despite a vocal showing from the Jairzinho-vs-England-in-1970 fan club, Roberto Carlos’ free kick against France won easily with 78% of the vote.
Bebeto’s goal against the Netherlands in 1994 earned 89% of the votes over Elano’s smash against Portugal in 2008.
In the closest contest of the day, Pelé’s famous goal in the 1958 World Cup final got 69% of the vote over Sócrates’ famous goal in the 1982 World Cup opener. Nice.
Lastly, Ronaldinho’s free kick against England in the 2002 World Cup beat Júlio Baptista’s bicycle kick against Catalunya in 2004 with 88% of the vote.
You can view the whole bracket here.
And now…
In 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…
Roberto Carlos’ legendary free kick against France in 1997 thrashed Maicon’s solo goal against Paraguay in 2004 with 87% of the vote.
Sócrates’ long-range shot against USSR at the 1982 World Cup just beat out Ronaldo’s second goal from the 2002 World Cup final, with 54% of the votes.
Ronaldinho’s free kick against England in the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals won very easily over Márcio Rossini’s backheel against Sweden in 1983, with 91% of the vote.
The final matchup was between Júlio Baptista’s goal against Catalunya, probably the best bicycle kick in Seleção history, and Éder’s goal against Scotland in the 1982 World Cup, probably the best chip in Seleção history. Fittingly, it ended in a perfect tie, and as a tiebreaker, I’ve decided to use a very complex set of criteria: I’m running this tournament, so I’m picking the one I like better. Júlio Baptista it is.
You can see the whole bracket so far 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
In the last block of voting:
With 54% of the vote, Marcelo’s goal against Mexico in 2011 became the first in the tournament to beat out a higher-seeded goal, even if Elano’s goal vs. Ecuador in 2007 was only one seed better than it:
With 67% of the vote, Josimar’s ICBM against Ireland in 1986 comfortably beat out Ronaldinho’s solo goal against Hungary in 2004:
Neymar’s volley against Japan in 2013 beat out Cafu’s half-volley against the Netherlands in 1999, with 64% of the vote:
And with 76% of the vote, Roberto Carlos’ trivela shot against Jamaica in 2003 beat out Juninho Pernambucano’s free kick against FC Lucerne in 2005.
Now for…
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