Brazil

Brazil are the most successful team in football history and the sport's defining aesthetic, the only side to win five World Cups and the only one to play at all 23 editions. The yellow shirt of 1958, 1962 and 1970, carried by Pelé, Garrincha and Zico and later Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Neymar, turned jogo bonito into a national identity. Run by the CBF, the Seleção have also won a record-tying four Confederations Cups and nine Copa Américas.

The modern era has been about chasing a sixth star not seen since 2002. Quarter-final exits in 2018 and 2022 gave way to a 2026 campaign under Carlo Ancelotti, the first foreign coach in the senior job, that ended earlier than hoped. Neymar is now the record scorer on 80 goals and Cafu the most-capped on 142, and a Vinícius Júnior generation carries the expectation that never lifts.