Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Soccer in South America

Episode Date: February 7, 2026

Ranking the “greatest soccer players of all time” often leads to a top three dominated by South Americans: Lionel Messi, Pelé, and Diego Maradona.  While soccer originated in Europe, its arrival in the Americas was a turning point for the sport. How did a game with such a late start in the Western Hemisphere evolve into a cultural sensation, and how did these nations become an engine for the world’s most brilliant talent?  Learn more about the history and rapid ascendancy of soccer across South America on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ranking the greatest soccer players of all time often leads to a top three dominated by South Americans, Lionel Messe, Pele, and Diego Maradonna. While soccer originated in Europe, its arrival in the Americas was a turning point for the sport. So how did a game with such a late start in the Western Hemisphere evolve into a cultural sensation, and how did these nations become an engine for the world's most brilliant talent? Learn more about the history and rapid ascendancy of soccer in South America on this episode of Everything, everywhere daily. Fear is the virus is trending on TikTok.

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family, and wellness gurus down the right-wing cult spiral in a search for salvation. If you go back to my episode on the origins of soccer, football, and rugby, you may recall that there were many ball-based games dating back to antiquity. These games were often violent and featured a wide variety of rules that changed from game to game. The game of soccer or football, as we know it, began to develop in the 19th century. The first soccer associations in Europe were created in England in the 1860s, a development which was crucial to the sports growth. Soccer associations organized league play and hosted tournaments, but perhaps their greatest contribution to the sport was establishing a developmental ladder from youth leagues to senior

level leagues. European soccer experienced a surge in popularity after the establishment of these associations. By the turn of the 20th century, the traditional European soccer powers such as Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands developed their own associations. Association football arrived in the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal and Spain, adopting their club programs by the dawn of World War I. It's clear Europeans had an early start in the development of soccer and the organizations that promoted.

This foundation became important as the sport crossed the Atlantic to the Americas. And just as an aside, there were also contributions of the sport that went in the other direction across the Atlantic. In ancient Mesoamerica, the Maya played a ball game with some soccer-like qualities, but it was more of a hip-focused game than a kicking game. The game had ritual significance, with the losing team often being chosen for human sacrifice. When Europeans first observed this Mayan ball game, they likely noted similarities to their own ball games. But the biggest difference was actually the ball.

European games of the period used a leather ball, often oddly shaped and stuffed with feathers or cloth, and it didn't bounce. The conquistadors were amazed when they saw these balls, known as Ulama Pilota's, bounce, as rubber was a New World crop and was unavailable in Europe. In fact, they were so amazed that the conquistador Hernan Cortez brought a contingent of Aztec players to the Spanish court of Charles V in 1528. And while the players impressed Charles V with their hip skills, the bouncing ball was actually the star of the show.

Rubberized balls began appearing in Europe during the early Industrial Revolution, helping to pave the way for Association Football. As association football was taking root in Europe in the 19th century, the continent was also undergoing massive economic and political changes. In Italy, wars of independence and the political challenges of national unification created economic unrest throughout the country. As economic depression worsened in Italy, it led to a massive exodus of Italians in search of economic opportunities. The Italian diaspora led to the mass migration of more than 30 million Italians between 1880, in the end of World War I.

Millions of these Italians emigrated to Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. The economic situation in Argentina differed radically from that in Italy, in that it had a growing, flourishing economy. The Argentine export-driven economy lacked enough workers to meet demand. This growth created new jobs, and Italians responded in incredible numbers. Nearly three million Italians migrated to Argentina and Brazil. As was common throughout history, these migrants established ethnic enclaves where people from a particular region all live together. These communities spoke their native language, ate their customary

foods, and continued traditions that fostered familiarity. Immigration was so intense that some regions of Argentina had as many as 30% of the population of Italian origin. Among the traditions brought by these Italian emigres was soccer, and to put it plainly, Argentina and Brazil were never the same. Argentina may be the most unique case study in the rise of soccer, as it had both the Italian diaspora driving the process and a large British population that further influenced local culture and the sports development. The British also deserved credit for fostering a passionate soccer base in Argentina.

British clubs and leagues began to appear in the railway towns of Argentina in the early 20th century. Ethnic enclaves didn't just foster community and familiarity for those who live there. They also spread ideas and traditions to the host country, and soccer was arguably the 19th century's biggest cultural import to the Americas. Within the enclaves of Italian immigrants in South America, soccer was central to life. Soccer clubs began to form in the early 20th century, the most famous of which was Boka Juniors, founded by Italian immigrants. Boka is Argentina's most well-known club. It's the Argentinian equivalent to Manchester United, Paras Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, or Bayern Munich. The clubs encouraged a progressive approach to player development,

moving from youth leagues up to national teams that competed internationally. Perhaps the greatest contribution of these clubs was the development of passionate fanbases that propelled the sports popularity. As the Boko Jr's website notes, quote, what was done by Esteban Bagelito, Alfredo Scarpati, Santiago Sano, and the brothers Teodoro and Juan Antonio Ferrenga on April 3rd 1905 was not much different from what in those times other groups of friends used to do in Argentina, and that was to create an irrepressible passion for football and build a team. End quote. The Argentine soccer story is filled with extraordinary players, and it boasts arguably the two greatest in the sports history, Diego Maradonna

and Lionel Messi. The tradition of Argentine legendary players began with players of Italian descent competing in leagues within Italian enclaves. Luis Monte is perhaps Argentina's first soccer hero. Monty, an Italian Argentinian, is the only player to have played for two different countries in World Cup finals. Monty led the 1930 Argentine national team to the World Cup finals. This was Argentina's first appearance in a World Cup final, and the match was won by the host nation Uruguay, 4 to 2.

Monty reportedly received death threats during the tournament for his decision to play for Argentina from angry Italian fans. These threats had an impact as Monty switched sides and played for Italy in the 1934 tournament who won the championship. The expansion of soccer into the Americas also affected European teams. This became a long-term trend as it's difficult to pick up a sports page during transfer season without seeing an Argentine or Brazilian star signing a record-setting contract with one of the famed European clubs. At the end of World War II, Nationalist Leader and soccer enthusiast Juan Peron sought to use soccer as an engine of national development. Peron encouraged the creation of new soccer clubs and new stadiums across Argentina.

Perot saw this as a path for building national unity in the country. Clubs like Boka provided a blueprint for economic and on-field success. What began an Italian ethnic enclaves and was enhanced by participation in early British leagues created a national juggernaut. Peron wanted a modern Argentina and saw soccer as a platter of for achieving this goal. He saw the development of soccer infrastructure as a path towards the same modernization enjoyed by European nations. A vision of soccer stadium supporting local communities became a national goal, one that Peron supported with government loans and grants for stadium construction

and the clubs that occupied them. The strategy and style of soccer in Argentina also mirrored those of their Italian founders. The two nations have an almost symbiotic relationship when it comes to soccer, Stars from both nations often play for each other's top teams, with the exception of the Argentine legend Lionel Messi, who despite a well-documented Italian ancestry and dual citizenship, has never played for an Italian team. The story of soccer's genesis in Brazil is quite similar. Driven by demand for coffee and other natural resources, Brazil was experiencing an extraordinary surge in railway construction in the early 20th century. Much of Brazil's railway system was built by the first. British. One of the railway workers who migrated to Brazil was a Scotsman named Charles Miller.

Miller was the man who brought soccer to Brazil. Miller famously arrived with a copy of the English rules and a few balls in his attempt to bring the joy of soccer to Brazil. Brazil had athletic clubs, many of them dedicated to cricket and influenced by wealthy European railway interests. Miller founded a soccer club in Brazil's largest city of Sao Paulo. Originally, the sporting clubs were segregated, and Brazil's large black population was not allowed to participate. But one of the pillars of the Brazilian soccer program's strength has been its role in establishing leagues open to all players, black or white. This effort to promote inclusion led to the integration of clubs across Brazil. The first large-scale inclusion efforts were

undertaken by the Vasco da Gama club in the 1920s, when it fielded a team composed of both black and white players. This created some of Brazil's greatest stars, including the legendary Pele. Soccer proved to be a path to social mobility in Brazil, which drove generations of talent. In a nation as urban as Brazil, with some of the world's largest cities, soccer was a sport open to everyone, requiring only a ball and a little bit of space. Like the Argentine story, the Brazilian story is also predicated on replicating the model of European-style clubs that promoted the growth and development of the national team and created a soccer crazed nation.

similar to Juan Perron in Argentina, the longtime Brazilian autocrat, Jat Julio Vargas, used soccer as a springboard for modernization and national unity. Ruling Brazil for nearly two decades, Vargas used soccer to highlight the country's progress and the establishment of professional leagues. Vargas often used soccer as a symbol of Brazil's modernization, its movement away from its colonial pass, and as a springboard to becoming a nation to be reckoned with on the world stage. Like Argentina, the popularity of soccer in Brazil was fueled by World Cup success. Led by the 17-year-old Pelae's two goals, Brazil came back to win 5 to 2 over Ho Sweden and the 1958 World Cup finals.

This victory convinced the nation that it could become a soccer power, a status that cemented with another title at the next World Cup in 1962. Only Italy in the 1930s would match the feat of consecutive World Cup titles. Of the 22 FIFA World Cups that have been held, Brazil has won five titles, Argentina 3, and Uruguay 2. These three South American countries have accounted for 45% of all World Cup championships. Despite its relatively late arrival, South American soccer has had a profound impact on the sport, resulting in legendary teams and some of the world's greatest players. The success of these South American countries is all done. do to a few European immigrants who brought the spora with them when they migrated to a new land. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel.

The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research in writing for this episode was provided by Joel Hermanson. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord, as this is where everything happens outside of the podcast. As always, if you leave a review on any of the major podcast apps, you too can have it run in the show.