Football as a concept may have been born in the railyards of England, but it was in South America where the beautiful game was truly formed. With the first games held in Buenos Aires in 1863 and European settlers and sailors introducing it to other regions, the amateur version of the sport grew and spread throughout the continent until the end of the century. Clubs and leagues began to form, and thus began a rapid acceleration of the exposure, talent, and popularity of the sport.

However widespread it became, the game was always played at the highest level in Latin America, with national teams such as Uruguay and Brazil dominating early international tournaments and several such events being hosted there. The decades from 1930 to 1980 could perhaps be seen as when football was “at home” in South America. The world watched as Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil hosted and dominated multiple World Cups, producing teams feared throughout the footballing world. Perhaps most famous however are the Brazilian teams from 1958 to 1970, when an 18-year-old Pelé ran circles around Europe’s top defenders. He won 3 out of 4 World Cups he played in, establishing him as the rightful King of Football and making Pelé a household name. 

Legendary talents like Pelé, Di Stéfano, and Garrincha, and the growing integration into national cultures were exemplified by over 100,000 people attending the 1954 World Cup Final at the Maracanã. And there are countless examples of South American domination those years and beyond, with three South American nations winning 45% of all World Cups despite these countries making up only 3.75% of teams who have participated. The Ballon D’Or is another telling metric, with South American players from Brazil and Argentina alone holding 27 of 78 Ballon D’Or awards. This takes into consideration the new rankings, where players playing outside of Europe like Pelé finally got the credit they deserved. 

These accolades and national successes paint a very different picture, however, to social realities of the time. Towards the end of the aforementioned period, South American nations underwent drastic social and political changes, often violent. Pelé was outspoken about the rampant racism in Brazil, and often found himself clashing with the dictatorship ruling the country. Argentina had its own turmoil, with widespread social unrest culminating in a military junta that was established in 1976 and the Falklands War with Britain in 1982. Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, a famously corrupt dictator, also assumed control of his country around the same time as the junta in Argentina was established, and Colombia became overrun by the drug trade towards the end of the 1970s. 

Political and social changes such as these mark a shift in the footballing world, with what can be seen as the rise of European football in the 1980s and a decline of the focus on South America. Argentina 1978 was the last World Cup hosted in South America for 36 years, after hosting 5 international tournaments in 5 decades—but 1978 was rife with conspiracy. The government censored the media and is said to have corrupted matches in favour of an Argentinian win, in order to give the public something to be happy about. Following the unrest and controversies, it is clear why football governing bodies moved away from the instability of South America in favor of a more stable Western Europe.

One cannot ignore, however, the obvious and everlasting impact of racism and colonialism from European powers in South America which has historically had an immense impact on all aspects of life in the continent, and this has been shown to include football. As previously mentioned, the Ballon D’Or originally only included players who played in European leagues, showing a disdain or dismissal of the legitimacy of football from other continents. This is not to say that individual players were ignored: some of the greatest talents the world has ever seen hail from South America. However, it is telling that following the end of this period, all such players spent the majority of their careers in Europe having left their home countries. The poaching of talent by European clubs is almost akin to classic colonialism practices, as these players generated massive profit and success for their clubs. This even applies to international allegiance; Alfredo Di Stéfano is often credited as a Spanish player, despite growing up and beginning to play in Argentina before moving to Real Madrid and switching national allegiance. 

Players like Maradona, Zico, and Sócrates became legends of the game while playing in both South America and Europe from the 70s to the 80s, but following the aforementioned socio-political troubles, players began to increasingly seek European careers. European leagues also restructured along with continental cups like the Champions League, drastically improving their acclaim and establishing Europe as the new home of football. Rivaldo, Ronaldo Nazário, and many others are examples of legends of European football of the 90s and 2000s that marked the surge in imported talent in Europe. Nowadays this is exacerbated; players like Endrick are snatched up as teenagers on massive deals without more than two years playing at home.

One would hope that, after the last 15 years which saw the domination of Messi and other talents like Neymar and Suárez, we would see more of a shift back towards South America. Many of the social problems have been alleviated or improved, there’s been a World Cup in Brazil again, and with Neymar back at Santos and Messi in North America it seems as though talent is finding its way back to this hemisphere. The 2026 World Cup is in North America including Mexico, and the 2030 edition will include matches in South America to celebrate the World Cup Centennial. Will these World Cups bring the focus back to South America? Will more players return to their native countries before they retire and respark focus on South America? One can hope, as football’s Garden of Eden has been out of the limelight for far too long.