4 World Cup Glory

CHAPTER 4 World Cup Glory The 1958 World Cup was held in Sweden. That's a long way from Brazil! It would be Pelé's first trip on an airplane. In Brazil's final warm-up game, Pelé had hurt his knee. So he spent part of the long flight to Europe holding ice on it.

Sweden was thrilling for Pelé. He loved meeting new people and seeing the sights of Sweden's cities. Some of the Swedish fans were very interested to see such a dark-skinned person as Pelé. Back home in Brazil, there were many mixed races of people within a country of varied cultures. Pelé felt lucky to have grown up in Brazil, where his African heritage was not so unusual. The people

of Sweden, and much of Europe, however, were mostly white. They were very curious and excited to meet the Brazilian team, especially Pelé. At the World Cup, Pelé had to miss Brazil's first two games as his knee continued to heal. He was finally in the starting lineup as a center forward for a game against the Soviet Union. He stood on the field with his teammates, his yellow jersey bright in the sunlight. A band played Brazil's national anthem. He felt a surge of love for his country. "When the band [plays that song], all of us Brazilians feel a strange force within us.... All of us [were] living in a dream, but none more so than me." Pelé did not score, but he made many key plays, and Brazil won, 2– 0. They were one of only eight teams left in the tournament.

In their next game, against Wales, Pelé scored his first World Cup goal, and it was a beauty. He caught a long pass with his chest. As the ball fell to the ground, he spun and poked it with his toe into the back of the net. It was the game's only goal, putting Brazil into the semifinals.

The World Cup Every four years, the top national teams play in the World Cup tournament. Hundreds of games are played in the years leading up to each World Cup, to determine which countries will make the tournament. The top thirty-two national teams play in the final, which is held in a different country each time. Billions of people around the world tune in to watch the games on TV.

The World Cup is run by the International Federation of Football, called FIFA (say: FEE-fah), which stands for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, its name in French. The first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay. Only eight nations have ever won the World Cup: Brazil (five wins) Germany, Italy (four wins each) Argentina, Uruguay (two wins each) Spain, England, France (one win each) (The World Cup was not held during World War II.)