Maracanazo: The Match that Led Thousands of Brazilians to Commit Suicide

Three Greatest of All Time FIFA World Cup Finals

The final between Argentina and France in Qatar 2022 really was a great final – probably the best I have seen. But there are at least two other finals that are better than this one:

Ranked Third #3

The Final Crowning of Lionel Messi, King of Football (2022) 

It took a decade and a half, but he did it. It took years of disappointment, a brief retirement from the Argentina national team, five World Cup appearances, a ton of frustration, the survival of two wild and furious France comebacks and a nerve-shredding penalty shootout. 

The debate was on for decades, who is the all time king of football? Was it Pele or Maradona? Was it Messi? But one thing was missing then, the Argentine hadn't won the world Cup. Challenged for over a decade by Cristiano Ronaldo and the young upcoming star, Kylian Mbappe wouldn't bow to his Royal Majesty at PSG. 

Mbappe was determined to spoil the party for Argentina and truncate the story and the greatness of Lionel Messi. A hat-trick to cancel Messi's brace, but it was the Argentine goalie, Emiliano Martinez, that saved the day. 

Messi was eventually crown King of Football in Qatar. History will always remember that on a December night in Qatar, the world's most popular player finally won soccer's most important trophy, as his country beat France in one of the most thrilling finals in World Cup history.

Ranked Second #2

The Miracle of Bern (1954) 

The second-best final in History took place in Switzerland, in 1954. Germany had to play against the best team in the world: Hungary, which counted among their players with the legendary Ferenc Puskás. With the skills of this lethal striker and other great players, Hungary massacred every rival in the tournament, including Germany themselves, who lost to Hungary 8-3! in the first rounds of the World Cup. However, in the final match, under the rain, and losing 0-2 (as expected), the Germans displayed an incredible show of character and resilience and turned it around to win the match 3-2 with the final goal scored only 4 minutes before the final whistle. Since then, this epic match came to be known as “The Miracle of Bern”.

Ranked First #1 

Maracanazo: The Maracana Catastrophe (1950) 

 The best and most epic final of all time, no doubt, took place in Brazil, in 1950, where the host-team Brazil played against Uruguay in the final match of the tournament. Brazil had one of the best teams ever assembled. They reached the final game having annihilated Spain 6-1 (who had just won their group with England in it), and obliterated Sweden 7-1 (who ended up 3rd in the tournament). The superiority of Brazil was such, that even the Uruguayan players were saying “we will not lose by 6 or 7 goals… maybe by 3 or 4, no more than that…” The certainty that Brazil would win their first world cup (playing at home) and the general expectation were so great that songs were written, sambas were composed, and the whole country was preparing a celebration that was supposed to last weeks. 

On the day, the famous Maracanã stadium was filled with an estimated 200,000 spectators — an unbroken record. Brazil only needed a draw to be crowned world champions, because the game was not really a final, but rather the last game of a round-robin stage with the 4 best teams of the tournament in it. As expected, Brazil scored first, but later on, Uruguay put on the field the most unexpected fighting spirit, and with a miraculous and inspirational performance, they not only drew but won the game 2-1 with a goal in the 80th minute of the match. 

Dozens (some say thousands) of people committed suicide, some inside the very stadium. The national catastrophe was such, that Brazil abandoned their traditional “white” jersey and began to use the now well-known verde-amarela (yellow with green trim) onwards. This was the most glorious and epic victory in the History of Football.