No other national stereotype in the world is so closely tied with a sport, as Brazil is with football. The five-time world champions have constructed their national identity around this sport. Perhaps for this reason it's no wonder that there are many Brazilian social scientists doing research on this theme. This volume explores the various themes being worked upon, which are not very well known outside Brazil. We have selected some of the best known studies, each of which view football from a different lens. The first part is dedicated to the history of Brazilian football. The main question is how did football become so popular in the country? It also looks at other interesting historical developments in Brazilian football history up to this day. In the second part, current phenomena, especially the place of Brazilian football in a globalized world, will be considered: What are the consequences of an extremely commercialized and mediatized sport on a developing country? How does Brazil figure as the main supplying country of football talents? How does the population feel about seeing their players in Europe instead of their own country? Finally, the issue concludes with a critique of a documentary film about a Brazilian national team game in Haiti which was part of the Brazilian army's blue helmet mission. The game was used as a political instrument, revealing the importance of this sport in attaining a political position for Brazil in the world. This book was previously published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.