--- description: The World Cup: 32 nations, 64 matches, 1 billion viewers, 1 winner. From the beaches of Rio de Janeiro to the busy streets of London... title: The World's Love Affair With Soccer: A History in Pictures image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt321d203c762fd54b/69869743d0b6f24799304d30/world_cup_header.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [World Cup](/tag/world-cup/) ## World Cup Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The World's Love Affair With Soccer: A History in Pictures by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 11, 2014 2:58 PM CUT  David Alan Harvey—Magnum Photos by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 11, 2014 2:58 PM CUT The World Cup: 32 nations, 64 matches, 1 billion viewers, 1 winner. From the beaches of Rio de Janeiro to the busy streets of London to the stadiums of Buenos Aires, TIME presents a view of the global fervor around the big, beautiful game, seen through the eyes of Magnum Photographers. As the World Cup returns to its spiritual home, Brazil, these are the classic goals and heart-stopping highlights, and the all-time great players — Garrincha, Pele, Jairzinho, Carlos Alberto — that give the 2014 host country its deep roots in futbol. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2857270/world-cup-brazil-soccer-history-pictures/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2857270/world-cup-brazil-soccer-history-pictures/"},"headline":"The World's Love Affair With Soccer: A History in Pictures","datePublished":"2014-06-11T14:58:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:20:58.297Z","description":"The World Cup: 32 nations, 64 matches, 1 billion viewers, 1 winner. From the beaches of Rio de Janeiro to the busy streets of London...","url":"https://time.com/2857270/world-cup-brazil-soccer-history-pictures/","keywords":["World Cup"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt321d203c762fd54b/69869743d0b6f24799304d30/world_cup_header.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt321d203c762fd54b/69869743d0b6f24799304d30/world_cup_header.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"HONDURAS. Tegucigalpa. 2002. HONDURAS. Tegucigalpa. 2002.","caption":"HONDURAS. Tegucigalpa. 2002. HONDURAS. Tegucigalpa. 2002.","creditText":"David Alan Harvey—Magnum Photos","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/world-cup/","name":"World Cup"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2857270/world-cup-brazil-soccer-history-pictures/","name":"The World's Love Affair With Soccer: A History in Pictures"}}]}] ```