Fateful Final: 1950 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã by
Alex Bellos Riotur Maracanã Stadium ”Everywhere has its
irremediable national catastrophe, something like a Hiroshima.
Our catastrophe, our Hiroshima, was the defeat by Uruguay in
1950.” - Nelson Rodrigues In 1946 Brazil declared a new
democratic constitution after more than a decade of
dictatorship. Optimism was galvanised by confirmation that in
1950 the country would host the fourth football World Cup, the
most important international event to take place within its
frontiers. Brazil had first expressed its intention to put on
the tournament in 1938. The Second World War forced a twelve-
year interruption. With Europe still recuperating from the
conflict, Brazil was the only official candidate. When
Brazilians blow their own trumpets they have a tendency to use
global superlatives. Size is important since it chimes with a
sense of the country’s own enormousness. There is even a word
for it - “ufanism” - an excessive arrogance based on the
potentia