How many times have Brazil qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup? What is their record?

“It’s normal that we’re favourites, we’re Brazil.” The phrase uttered by A Seleção defender Danilo following his nation’s 4-1 victory over South Korea in the round of 16 on Monday, which booked a quarter-final clash against Croatia on Friday. Taken in isolation, those words from the Juventus full-back may come across as arrogant but, when your World Cup record is as good as Brazil’s, they’re entirely justified.

How many World Cups have Brazil won?

Let’s started with the basics. Brazil have won the World Cup on a record five occasions (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002), one more than Italy and Germany, whose 2006 and 2014 triumphs have closed the gap on the South Americans, who haven’t lifted the trophy, or even made the final, since the 2002 edition in South Korea. 20 years ago, maybe they’re due one? Stats gurus Statista, in conjunction with odds comparison site Oddschecker, now give Brazil a 29.4% probability of winning the tournament this year, significantly more than Argentina (16.7%) in second.

The thumping victory over South Korea, in which the Brazilians rolled back the years with a lighting fast attacking display in the first half, means they have now reached the quarter-finals or better in each of the last six World Cups. And we can count on one hand the occasions on which the A Seleção haven’t made it as far as the last eight.

When did Brazil fail to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup?

The last time they failed to do so was in 1990, when they were hampered by being drawn against arch-rivals Argentina in the round of 16. Diego Maradona and his team surprisingly failed to win their group and Brazil were ultimately punished for topping theirs, with Claudio Cannigia’s late goal settling a tight contest in Turin.

There were no quarter-finals in the 1982 World Cup, one of the ‘weird’ ones with a second group stage. That Brazil team, along with the one that won the tournament in 1970, is still thought of as one of the best international teams of all-time but they only made it to the ‘last 12′, as it was, suffering a fatal defeat to eventual winners Italy in Barcelona.

In 1966 in England, the Brazilians failed to make it out of the group stage, beaten to the top two places by a Eusebio-inspired Portugal and Hungary, coming towards the tail end of their golden era.

The 1934 World Cup finals began at the round of 16 stage, where Brazil suffered a 3-1 defeat to Spain, while the group stage was the round before the semi-finals in 1930. The South Americans were favourites to top a group containing Yugoslavia and Bolivia, but lost their opening game to the Yugoslavs, who progressed to the semis at their expense.

How many top-eight finishes in the World Cup have Brazil had?

All in all, this will be the 19th time that Brazil will finish in the top eight places in the tournament, under its different formats, which is a record. They have been beaten at the quarter-final stage on five occasions, with three of those defeats coming in the last four tournaments (France in 2006, Netherlands in 2010, Belgium in 2018).

In addition to their five titles, Brazil have been eliminated in the semi-finals four times (1938, 1974, 1978, 2014) and have lost in the final twice (1950, 1958).

Brazil’s full World Cup quarter-final record:

When will Brazil play against Croatia in the Qatar 2022 World Cup quarter-finals?

Brazil take face Croatia in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals on Friday, 9 December 2022. The match will be played at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan.