Tim Vickery: Brazil, the World Cup, and a birthright taken away

Brazil hasn't won a World Cup in 24 years. There is now a generation of Brazilians who have never, in a footballing sense, known what their parents knew - and this summer, under a foreign coach for the first time in their history, they have to do something about it.

This week I sit down for an hour with Tim Vickery - the BBC's voice on South American football, Rio resident of more than 30 years, and co-author of the brilliant new book Mundiales: A South American History of the World Cup (with Mark Biram, out now via Pitch Publishing).

We talk about the weight of the yellow shirt and the trauma of the Maracanazo, the lost generation that's only known heartbreak, why Tim thinks the 4-1 to Argentina last March was actually worse than the 7-1, the Nike '98 airport ad and the marketing of Jogo Bonito, Carlo Ancelotti as the first foreign Seleção boss, the political weaponisation of the amarelinha, Pelé's place in the 20th century alongside Ali and Martin Luther King, and why Tim still wouldn't rule Brazil out

📖 Mundiales: A South American History of the World Cup by Tim Vickery & Mark Biram - out now via Pitch Publishing.

Chapters00:00 Welcome01:24 Mundiales — the book04:41 30 years in Rio: the mood eight weeks out06:39 The Maracanazo and Brazil's Nelson's Column10:42 Nike, Michael Jordan, and the '98 airport ad13:00 The lost generation21:06 Neymar, Vinicius, Endrick22:49 Jogo Bonito as marketing ghost27:55 The Ancelotti question34:42 The heat, the brand, the World Cup at risk42:00 If Brazil wins it — what changes?46:25 Pelé, Ali, and 52 years after slavery53:53 Brazil v Morocco: the prediction58:33 The turtle