Panaji: After Pele and Lionel Messi, Kolkata will roll out the red carpet for Brazil as the five-time world champions arrive in India later this year for a friendly against the national football team.The friendly at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan on Oct 3 is part of Brazil’s Asia Tour, their first in over two decades. As part of the tour, football’s most decorated nation will play two games against Australia on Sept 25 and Sept 29, before they arrive in India.India – now ranked a poor 138 — have in the past played powerhouses like France (1948 Olympics), Yugoslavia (1952 Olympics) and Argentina (1984 Nehru Cup). For the first time, however, the country will be up against a side that is currently ranked among the top five in the world and often referred to as ‘o País do Futebol’ or the country of football. No wonder the organisers are keen to dub this as the biggest match in South Asian football history.“To welcome a team of Brazil’s stature to our country is an extraordinary moment and one that will undoubtedly become a landmark chapter in the history of Indian football,” said All India Football Federation (AIFF) deputy secretary general M Satyanarayan.The Brazil football federation (CBF) has signed a letter of intent with the AIFF through Best11Group, an international sports consultancy firm.“It will be a special encounter with a country that has the largest international fanbase of the Brazilian national team who, for generations, has followed Brazilian football with immense affection and passion,” CBF said in a statement late on Thursday. “We are eager to live this moment alongside millions of Indian fans.”The organisers are expected to spend an estimated Rs 60-70 crore for a Brazil stop in India. The contract makes it mandatory for the former champions to field its A team, who will also feature against fellow World Cuppers Australia. This will pave the way for some of the world’s best-known footballers to play on Indian soil.“Our discussions were always centred around Brazil playing against India and no other opponent in the country. It’s a mismatch in rankings (5 vs 138), but India need to play such high-profile matches to raise its stature,” said the official.Brazil had a disappointing FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign where they were knocked out by Norway in the round of 16. Coach Carlo Ancelotti, who has turned down an offer from Italy to guide their national team, is eager to bounce back and is already working on a new era for Brazil, with the World Cup 2030 as the ultimate target.During the Sep 21-Oct 6 international match window, India are also committed to playing in the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup as one of the invitational teams outside the southeast Asian region but will have its strongest squad for the friendly against Brazil at home.Brazil’s arrival will continue a rich tradition in Kolkata, the Mecca of Indian football.The city hosted star-studded New York Cosmos, led by Pele, against local giants Mohun Bagan in 1977, while Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella broke the mould back in 2011 when he made Lionel Messi his captain, against Venezuela, in the City of Joy.
