The World Cup is almost here — and not just any World Cup. The 2026 edition returns to the United States for the first time since 1994, and the timing has clearly inspired the streaming giants. In the past twelve months alone, Netflix, Prime Video and Amazon have released or announced a wave of documentaries celebrating the mythology of Brazilian football: its legends, its working-class roots, its heartbreaks and its glories. Whether you are a lifelong torcedor or someone discovering the Seleção for the first time, there has never been a better moment to dive in.
Here is every essential production you need to watch — and where to find them.
The Root of the Game / Várzea: Onde Nasce o Futebol (Netflix)
Várzea is untranslatable in the way that really matters. Literally, it refers to a floodplain or lowland meadow. In Brazil, it means the informal weekend football leagues played on dirt and grass pitches in the outskirts of cities — the true factory floor where Brazilian football is made. Before Neymar, before Ronaldo, before Pelé, there was the várzea: chaotic, joyful, brutally competitive.
This documentary delves into the world of amateur soccer in São Paulo, exploring the culture of grassroots football deeply rooted in Brazil, and features legends like Cafu and Raphinha revisiting their roots to share how várzea shaped their paths to global success. Cafu — a two-time World Cup winner and one of the greatest right-backs of all time — grew up playing várzea football in the Jardim Irene neighbourhood of São Paulo. Raphinha, currently one of Brazil’s most exciting attacking players, followed a similar path.
The Root of the Game premieres on Netflix on June 20, 2026.
Brazil 70: The Third Star / Brasil 70: A Saga do Tri (Netflix)
The 1970 World Cup squad is the benchmark against which every Brazilian team — and arguably every international team in history — is measured. Pelé. Tostão. Jairzinho. Rivellino. Carlos Alberto. The team that played in Mexico did not merely win the World Cup; they performed it, turned football into something closer to art.
This Netflix miniseries recreates the behind-the-scenes story of that campaign: the political tensions of the era (Brazil was under military dictatorship), the drama around coach João Saldanha’s dismissal and Zagallo’s last-minute appointment, and the remarkable human stories behind the names on the teamsheet. It is part historical drama, part football documentary — and completely essential viewing before the 2026 tournament.
USA 94: Brazil’s Return to Glory / Tetra: Acreditar de Novo (Netflix)
By 1994, Brazil had not won a World Cup in 24 years. The 1970 team — widely considered the greatest side in football history — had cast a long shadow over everything that came after. Then came the 1994 squad: pragmatic, resilient, built around two of the most lethal strikers in the world.
Led by stars such as Romário, Bebeto and captain Dunga, Brazil claimed its fourth World Cup championship after a dramatic final victory over Italy, with the decisive penalty shootout settling one of the most tightly contested finals in tournament history. Romário — a short, instinctive centre-forward from Rio with an almost supernatural sense of goal — and Bebeto — known for the iconic baby-rocking celebration after his son was born mid-tournament — formed one of the great striking partnerships in World Cup history.
The big attraction is the use of videotaped archives of training sessions recorded by the players themselves, providing an immersive look into the doubts, pressure and eventual triumph of that squad. It is the kind of footage that transforms historical record into lived experience.
Ronaldinho: The One and Only (Netflix)
Few players have ever made football feel like pure joy the way Ronaldinho Gaúcho did. Born Ronaldo de Assis Moreira in Porto Alegre, he was the kind of once-in-a-generation talent who could do things with a football that seemed to exist outside the laws of physics — elastico dribbles, no-look passes, bicycle kicks that left goalkeepers standing still out of sheer bewilderment. He won the 2002 World Cup with Brazil, the Ballon d’Or in 2005, and the Champions League with Barcelona. He also became, arguably, the most beloved footballer on earth.
This three-part Netflix series traces his journey from young prodigy to global sports icon, featuring exclusive access to his private life and never-before-seen archival footage that revisits the victories and defeats of his career, on and off the pitch. The testimonials come from some of the biggest names in the sport — Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr., Roberto Carlos, Gilberto Silva, Carles Puyol, and others.
As of April 2026, Ronaldinho: The One and Only is available to stream on Netflix in major regions including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
Vini Jr. / Baila, Vini (Netflix)
The film revisits the events of 2024 — a year in which the Brazilian Real Madrid winger battled injuries and rose as a powerful voice against racism in stadiums, while also lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy and being named best player in the world by The Best FIFA award, breaking a 17-year drought for Brazil.
The documentary chronicles Vini Jr.’s journey from his humble beginnings on the streets of Brazil to the lights of the Bernabéu, directed by Emílio Domingos and Andrucha Waddington. It is also, inevitably, a documentary about race in football — Vinicius has become one of the most prominent voices against racist abuse in European stadiums, a fight that gives his story a weight that extends well beyond sport.
Neymar: The Perfect Chaos (Netflix)
No figure in contemporary Brazilian football is more polarising, more discussed, or more fascinating than Neymar Jr. He arrived at Santos as a teenager and immediately looked like the inevitable heir to Ronaldinho’s crown: fearless, creative, an entertainer as much as an athlete. His move to Barcelona in 2013 made him one of the most expensive players in history; his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, worth a staggering €222 million, broke every record in sight.
This three-episode docuseries spotlights Neymar’s stratospheric rise and undeniable talent while also delving into the darker aspects of fame — the overwhelming pressures and isolation that come with being a singular sports figure. In a world where athletes often seem godlike, the documentary is a reminder of the human behind the incredible on-field successes.
Pelé (Netflix)
There is no Brazilian football without Pelé. Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, he won his first World Cup at seventeen years old and went on to become arguably the greatest footballer who ever lived — a man so synonymous with Brazil that his fame became inseparable from the country’s identity abroad.
This documentary charts the legendary Brazilian’s career and life, from humble beginnings to becoming the man who defined soccer excellence and inspired generations, while also addressing his complex relationship with the political realities of military-rule-era Brazil.
All or Nothing: Brazil National Team (Prime Video)
This Amazon Prime Video documentary gives viewers an exclusive look at Brazil’s national team’s winning campaign in the 2019 Copa América, providing valuable insight into the lives on and off the pitch. Copa América is South America’s continental championship — the equivalent of the European Championship — and Brazil’s 2019 triumph, played on home soil, was one of the most watched events in the country that year.
The All or Nothing formula — access-all-areas fly-on-the-wall filmmaking — works particularly well here. The conversations in training, the tactical meetings, the private moments between players: it is the closest most fans will ever get to being inside the Seleção.
Ronaldo: O Fenômeno (Globoplay)
If Pelé was the god of Brazilian football’s golden age, Ronaldo Nazário — known universally as O Fenômeno, “The Phenomenon” — was its greatest modern miracle. He arrived as a teenager at PSV Eindhoven and immediately looked unlike any striker the world had seen: the size and strength of a target man, the acceleration of a winger, and the finishing ability of someone who seemed allergic to missing.
The series revisits his career from his meteoric rise in the 1990s through the devastating knee injuries that threatened to end everything — and his extraordinary return at the 2002 World Cup, where he scored twice in the final against Germany and wrote one of football’s most improbable comeback stories.
Garrincha: Alegria do Povo (Prime Video)
The oldest entry on this list — and perhaps the most important. Made in 1962, at the peak of Garrincha’s powers, this short documentary by filmmaker Joaquim Pedro de Andrade is both a sports film and a piece of Brazilian cinema history. It captures Garrincha at the zenith of his career, showing classic scenes from the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, where he was arguably the decisive player in both Brazilian victories.
Garrincha — born Manoel Francisco dos Santos in Pau Grande, Rio de Janeiro — was the anti-Pelé in the most beautiful sense: where Pelé was disciplined and complete, Garrincha was chaos and instinct. He had been told as a child that a congenital condition meant he would never play sport. He went on to win two World Cups and become one of the most beloved figures in Brazilian history. His later life — marked by alcoholism and poverty — makes his story all the more heartbreaking and human.
