Packed with stunning photography and expert analysis of each team, its star players and its prospects in the finals, this is essential reading for football fans everywhere. The book also features a guide to each of the stadiums and host cities, a history of the World Cup and a tournament progress chart that can be filled in as the competition progresses. No other event in the sporting world can rival the glamour, impact, fervent following and universal appeal of the World Cup - and no other tournament comes close to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Official Book. Whether you are watching the games live in Brazil or in your own home, this is the tournament preview for you.

This is the World Cup companion every kid needs while watching the world's most exciting sports competition Official mascot Fuleco, a friendly armadillo, tells children all about his home and the host country, Brazil, and there's everything a fan needs to know about the stadiums, top players, and statistics. Adding to the fun are quizzes, games, stickers, a tricky double-page search-and-find puzzle, and a foldout back jacket with a fill-in progress chart so soccer-crazy kids can record match results as the games progress."

Nothing equals the sporting spectacle of the World Cup! This FIFA-endorsed guide, the only official one aimed at younger readers, contains everything kids need to become experts on the thrilling competition. Informative and accessible, it includes easy-to-follow team analyses of all 32 finalists, star player profiles, outstanding big match photographs, puzzles, games, fill-ins, and an introduction to Fuleco, the match mascot.

One of the Boston Globe’s Best Sports Books of the Year: “Incisive, heartbreaking, important and even funny” (Jeremy Schaap, New York Times–bestselling author of Cinderella Man). The people of Brazil celebrated when it was announced that they were hosting the World Cup—the world’s most-viewed athletic tournament—in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics. But as the events were approaching, ordinary Brazilians were holding the country’s biggest protest marches in decades. Sports journalist Dave Zirin traveled to Brazil to find out why. In a rollicking read that travels from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the fabled Maracanã Stadium to the halls of power in Washington, DC, Zirin examines Brazilians’ objections to the corruption of the games they love; the toll such events take on impoverished citizens; and how taking to the streets opened up an international conversation on the culture, economics, and politics of sports. “Millions will enjoy the World Cup and Olympics, but Zirin justly reminds readers of the real human costs beyond the spectacle.” —Kirkus Reviews

Brazil has done much to shape football/soccer, but how has soccer shaped Brazil? Despite the political and social importance of the beautiful game to the country, the subject has hitherto received little attention. This book presents groundbreaking work by historians and researchers from Brazil, the United States, Britain and France, who examine the political significance, in the broadest sense, of the sport in which Brazil has long been a world leader. The authors consider questions such as the relationship between soccer, the workplace and working class culture; the formation of Brazilian national identity; race relations; political and social movements; and the impact of the sport on social mobility. Contributions to the book range in time from the late nineteenth century, when the British first introduced the sport to Brazil, to the present day, as the 'country of soccer' prepares itself to host the 2014 World Cup, painting a vivid picture of the many ways in which soccer exists and functions in Brazil, both on and off the pitch.

Celebrates the history of soccer in Brazil, from its introduction into the nation in the 1870s through the present, and offers commentary on the cultural importance of the game while profiling superstar teams, players, and managers.

In anticipation of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, this celebration of Brazil's football obsession captures every angle of the game, the players, and the fans of the most beautiful game on earth. Having photographed football in Brazil for two decades, no one understands the country's passion for the sport better than Christopher Pillitz. From Brazil's sun-kissed beaches to its densely populated favelas, Pillitz reveals the sport as Brazil's religion. His bold and brightly colored photographs show players of every age and walk of life. They take readers from enormous stadiums and prison yards to the tops of tall buildings and a deep-sea oil platform; across countless streets, alleys, and highways; even inside a local seminary where longrobed monks display incredible agility playing in their cassocks. While he captures stylish kicks, athletic headers, swaying dribbles and passes, and the samba and capoeira behind the incredible moves, Pillitz also shows us the wild excitement of the colorful, eccentric fans, and, of course, he reveals the gentle side of the beautiful game--the many women footballers and fans who enjoy the sport as much as their male counterparts. Timed to coincide with Brazil's hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, this absorbing and thrilling collection will help new and seasoned fans understand what football truly represents to the country's people and its culture.