| Women's soccer in Brazil | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Brazil |
| Governing body | Confederação Brasileira de Futebol |
| National team(s) | Women's national team |
National competitions | |
International competitions | |
Women's football is not as popular in Brazil as men's football, although it has increased in popularity since the 2000s. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Due to strong and continuing social stigma, Brazilian society only minimally supports women's football. [2] [6] [7] [8] There is a sexist belief in the country that football is not a sport for women. [9] It was illegal for women to play football in Brazil from 1941 to 1979. [8] Until recently, the country lacked a national women's league, organizing only state competitions because there was limited financial interest and support for the women's game. [10] The Copa do Brasil de Futebol Feminino was first played in 2007. In 2013, a nationwide league, the Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino Série A1, was officially started and became the country's premier women's domestic competition, helping to increase the quality of Brazilian women's football. Despite all issues, Brazilian clubs have won most editions of the Copa Libertadores Femenina (11).
Women's football in Brazil only recently became more popular. During the 20th century, women were discouraged from playing "masculine" sports such as football and told they should focus more on aesthetic sports such as gymnastics. The health experts in Brazil at the time even claimed that females playing these sports were at risk of becoming homosexual. [11] At a very young age, young boys were taught to be strong while girls were taught how to become better mothers. Women were often bullied for playing football and forced to leave fields in order to make more time for men to play. Despite the social challenges, women still continued to play football as officials worried about the masculinization of the female body and how detrimental that would be to their society. These fears sparked President Getúlio Vargas to organize a national sports council to establish sports guidelines. The council proceeded to ban women from playing any aggressive sports such as football due to health precautions. [11] Many female players resisted this ban; Primavera FC continued to play up until they ran out of funding and resources. This law was not strictly upheld as some women continued to play. In the 1970's women's football was gaining popularity across the world; this inspired several feminist protests in Brazil. Eventually the ban on women's football in Brazil was finally lifted in 1983 influenced by the Union of European Football Associations.
The best players, such as Marta and Cristiane, were accidentally discovered and directly invited to play in the Brazil national team. [12] In recent years, the national team contested World Cup finals and Olympics gold medals, increasing the popularity of TV broadcasts for those tournaments. However, this was not sufficient to stimulate the footballing culture among women who prefer to support men's football over women's. [13] Brazil has developed a major rivalry with the United States women's national soccer team.
In 2014 FIFA World Cup held in their nation, Brazilian men's team had made a serious disappointment after only gaining fourth place. This created a huge support for the women's team with hopes that they could gain the title in the women's tournament of 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, although Brazil failed to advance from the round of 16.
From 2020, Brazilian female footballers will receive equal pay, a major step in the development of women's football in the nation. [14]
Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of the country’s national identity. The Brazil national football team has won the FIFA World Cup five times, the most of any team, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Brazil and Germany are the only teams to succeed in qualifying for all the World Cups for which they entered the qualifiers; Brazil is the only team to participate in every World Cup competition ever held. Brazil has also won an Olympic gold medal, at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro and at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The Brazil women's national football team represents Brazil in international women's football and is run by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). It has participated in eight editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup, finishing as runner-up in 2007, and seven editions of the Copa América Femenina.
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino, also known as Brasileirão Feminino, is an annual Brazilian women's club football tournament organized by the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol, or CBF. It is the country's premier women's football competition and the first professional women's league in the country.
Miraildes Maciel Mota, commonly known as Formiga, is a Brazilian footballer who last played as a midfielder for São Paulo FC. She previously played for professional clubs in Sweden, the United States and France. Formiga holds many international records as a member of the Brazil national team, being the only player present in all Olympic Games tournaments of women's football since the first edition at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and a record for appearing at seven different FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments.
Cristiane Rozeira de Souza Silva, known as Cristiane, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Santos and the Brazilian women's national team. A prolific forward, she was part of Brazil's silver medal-winning teams at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic football tournaments. In total she has participated in five FIFA Women's World Cups and four Olympics.
The Copa do Brasil de Futebol Feminino was a Brazilian Women's football competition organized by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) with the help of the Brazilian Ministry of Sports. It was designed as an equivalent to the men's Copa do Brasil. The first edition was played in 2007. The competition was abolished in 2017.
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Kleiton Barbosa de Oliveira Lima, known as Kleiton Lima, is a Brazilian football manager, currently in charge of Santos' women's team.
The following article presents a summary of the 2019 football (soccer) season in Brazil, which was the 118th season of competitive football in the country.
Adriana Leal da Silva, commonly known as Adriana or Maga, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Brazil women's national team.
Kerolin Nicoli Israel Ferraz, commonly known as Kerolin, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for the North Carolina Courage in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and for the Brazil national team as a forward. In 2018, she was elected the breakout female player in the Brasileirão by the Brazilian Football Confederation, having scored 14 goals in 35 games for Ponte Preta.
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Byanca Beatriz Alves de Araújo, known as Byanca Brasil or simply Byanca, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a forward for Cruzeiro.
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino Série A3 is an annual Brazilian women's club football tournament organized by the CBF.
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Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama, commonly known as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a women's association football club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Founded in 1987, the team has been inactive for periods prior to its most recent reinstatement in 2016. The team is affiliated with Federação de Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro and play their home games at São Januário. The team colors, reflected in their logo and uniform, are white and black. They play in the third tier of women's football in Brazil, the Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino Série A3, and in the Campeonato Carioca de Futebol Feminino, the traditional in-state competition.
