Brazil, the last defeat in the World Cup before Cameroon: it was 1998

For the standings it counted for little, yet the boos were not lacking. The last time Brazil had lost a match in the group stage of a World Cup, Rodrygo and Vinicius were only a post-nuptial hypothesis: Dani Alves, on the other hand, was already in this world, but had not yet asked for the moped as a gift to the parents. The green-gold were the national candidate for the title (as in 2022, at least according to what the bookmakers suggest) and lost on the last day of the group stage (as this year). The group stage of the Cup in Qatar ends with the clamorous victory of Cameroon over the Seleçao, a success however useless for the fate of the Africans, equally eliminated. To find the last Brazilian knockout in the group stage before today, we need to go back to 1998, a World Cup that also closely involved the Indomitable Lions.

IN FRANCE

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Cameroon, which is presenting itself at the review in France, the last one of the millennium, is promising: Rigobert Song is in defense (yes, he is the current coach of the Lions national team) and number 10 Mboma acts forward. There is also the good Pierre Wome, Inter mancini’s meteor. Plays a good World Cup but is badly defeated by Italy in the second day: then equalized 9 against 11 in the final match against Chile by Salas and Zamorano. He’s one step away from accessing the round of 16: a good national team which, however, lacks a forward ring, also because Eto’o is still a minor and plays for Real Madrid. He plays, so to speak: the Lion King is promising but immature, he will need a few years. The green-gold players of the time, on the other hand, are outgoing world champions and forwards play with Rivaldo to support Ronaldo and Bebeto: inspiration, imagination and fairy feet. They beat Scotland and Morocco in the first two matches of the group and arrive in the last meeting, with Norway, mathematically first in the group. But coach Zagallo does not make a turnover and re-proposes the starting lineup.

BOOS

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Despite the good training intentions, Brazil stalled for a good part of the match, tackling it more as a training session. Boos profusely from the Marseille Velodrome who paid for the ticket to see a real match. Then the first applause in the 78th minute: invention by Denilson, winning header by Bebeto. Norway, thanks to Morocco’s great success against Scotland, would be out of the World Cup: they can only win. And he wakes up suddenly: 1-1 signed by Flo (our old acquaintance: he played for Siena), sensational 2-1 by Rekdal who converts a penalty kick in the 88th minute. At the triple whistle, the Norwegians celebrate, while Morocco learns of the opposing victory and bursts into tears. Brazil gets more than a few whistles, but shrugs: a few days later, in the round of 16, they start grinding good football and goals again, catching their breath until the unfortunate final in Paris, lost against the hosts France. Norway instead stops in the first knockout round against Vieri’s Italy.

AFTER ’98

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That match against Norway mattered for little. Yet the green-and-gold have learned, even after the defeat against Flo and his companions, never to underestimate the group stage: after the sensational debacle, Brazil has strung together 14 wins and 3 draws in the next five World Cups. Until the match against Cameroon, which made history: in 1998 he was still orphaned of his best striker, Vinicius and Mbeumo (the Africans’ inexhaustible lung) weren’t even in his thoughts, in Italy he paid with the lira. Twenty-four years later Rigobert Song beats an incredulous Tite and cordially invites historians to update the almanacs, even if he fails to hit the eighths. Another telling fact: before Norway, the last national team capable of beating Brazil in the World Cup group stage was Hungary, during the England ’66 tournament. In that case, the loss coincided with the elimination. In ’98, as we know, the green-and-gold rose again. Who knows this time.