The match resembled chess more than football. The Brazilian fluidity kept stalling against the physical British backline. English defender Bobby Moore said of the game, “That game to me was probably the most outstanding international football match that I was involved in. The game itself was just everything you could expect from a football match.”

Having trained for the World Cup at high altitude practice facilities in Brazil to acclimate to the high altitude they expected in Mexico, the Brazilians were in superior physical shape to the rest of the competition. Playing in the low altitude of Guadalajara, the Brazilians played with an added boost.

In the second half of the match against England, the Brazilian’s fitness paid off. In the 69th minute, after a brilliant run by Gerson, the midfielder chipped the ball into the center of the box. Receiving the ball, Pele unselfishly laid it off for the onrushing Jairzinho to lash into the roof of the net. The game ended 1-0.

With the pressure lifted, Brazil was at their ruthless best against Romania. Two goals from Pele bookended Jairzinho’s fourth goal of the competition, granting Brazil a maximum of nine points from their three group matches.

Their quarter-final matchup against Brazil placed them against South American rivals Peru. Though Brazil was the better team, Peru had an ace up their sleeve. Their coach, Didi, had played a critical role as a defender for Brazil in both the ’58 and ’62 World Cups. After leaving the pitch as a player, Didi had transformed into one of the best coaches in Brazil. Carlos Alberto emphasized the challenge of competing against a former teammate: “He knew exactly how we played. We knew how difficult it would be and it was difficult beating Peru even though we felt we were at a higher level than them.

Just 11 minutes after kickoff, however, Brazil could rest easy. This time, Rivellino was the hero. The left midfielder capitalized on a Peruvian mistake, sending Gerson’s resulting pass spinning into the back of the net with a grounded shot from the left edge of the box hit with the outside of his left foot. Four minutes later, Rivellino played Tostão into the box with a ball along the goal line that Tostão finished with a clinical shot from a tight angle. Tostão was yet another brilliant attacker in the Brazil lineup. His teammate, Felix, said of Tostão, “He was our best player tactically. He took on the two main markers, freeing up Pele and Rivellino. That’s what helped the movement in our team and, being so well prepared, no one could stop us.”

Though Peru responded with two goals of their own, they were powerless against the Brazilian front five. Tostão added another in the 52nd minute and then Jairzinho sealed the match with his seemingly required goal, scored in the 75th minute. This Brazilian attack was perhaps the most creative and lethal offense the game has ever seen and, in 1970, they played at the peak of their potential.

Clodoaldo said of having such forwards on the team, “Jairzinho, Gerson, Rivellino, Pele, Tostão – to have a team with five aces like that – in a deck of cards you only get four. That national team had five aces that were all exceptional players. So, it was amazing to be able to play, look up, and see those five players in front of you. It was simply incredible.”

Brazil had secured a birth in the semi-finals. Though they had dominated all of the opponents they played, their confidence faced its toughest test against their fiercest rivals, Uruguay. Two decades before, in Brazil’s home stadium, Uruguay beat their big brothers in the World Cup Final. For Uruguay, the victory became an annual celebration on equal standing with their independence day. For Brazil, their defeat became an event of national mourning that was so damaging, their national team waited two years before returning to the field. When, at last, they did come back, Brazil arrived wearing new uniforms. They had swapped their traditional white shirts with the now iconic yellow and blue jerseys of modern Brazil. Even after winning two World Cups of their own, the Brazilian’s had not shaken the Uruguayan inferiority complex that haunted them for twenty years.