Uruguay v Brazil (1950 FIFA World Cup)

Maracanaço

The Maracanã Stadium, seen here in February 2009, hosted the match.
Event	1950 FIFA World Cup
Uruguay Brazil 2 1
Date	16 July 1950
Venue	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro
Referee	George Reader (England)
Attendance	199,854
← 1938 1954 →

Uruguay v Brazil was the decisive match of the final group stage at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The match was played at the Estádio do Maracanã in the then-Brazilian capital of Rio de Janeiro on 16 July 1950. Unlike other World Cups, the 1950 winner was determined by a final group stage, with the final four teams playing in round-robin format, instead of a knockout stage. With Brazil one point ahead of Uruguay going into the match, Uruguay needed a win while Brazil needed only to avoid defeat to claim the title of world champions.

Brazil took the lead shortly after half-time on a goal by Friaça, but Juan Alberto Schiaffino equalised for Uruguay mid-way through the half. Alcides Ghiggia scored the winning goal with 11 minutes remaining in the match, resulting in one of the biggest upsets in football history, and the term Maracanazo (Portuguese: Maracanaço, pronounced [maɾakɐˈnasu], roughly translated as "The Maracanã Blow", after the name of the stadium) first became synonymous with the match. It was the second (and to date, the last) final match featuring two South American countries (the first being the 1930 final between Uruguay and Argentina, which was also won by Uruguay).

Ghiggia was the last surviving player from the game; he died on 16 July 2015 (exactly 65 years after scoring the decisive goal) at the age of 88.

The road to the title in the 1950 World Cup was unique; instead of a knockout stage, the preliminary group stage was followed by another round-robin group. The final four teams were Brazil (host country and joint-top scorers from the group stage), Uruguay (who only had to play one match in their group, an 8–0 thrashing of Bolivia), Spain (who won all three of their group matches, against England, Chile and the United States), and Sweden (who qualified ahead of defending world champions, Italy, and Paraguay).