Brazil Independence Cup

1972 Brazil Independence Cup

Taça Independência
Tournament details
Host country	Brazil
Dates	June 11 – July 9
Teams	20 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	15 (in 12 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Brazil
Runners-up	Portugal
Third place	Yugoslavia
Fourth place	Argentina
Tournament statistics
Matches played	44
Goals scored	136 (3.09 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Dušan Bajević (13 goals)

The Brazil Independence Cup was an international football tournament held in Brazil, from 11 June to 9 July 1972, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Brazilian Declaration of Independence. It was called the Minicopa by the Brazilians and the final was between Brazil and Portugal, in the Maracanã Stadium. Brazil won 1–0, with Jairzinho scoring in the 89th minute.

Brazil no longer had Pelé but still had Tostão, Jairzinho and Rivelino, the later two also played in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, in West Germany.

Despite Portugal's quality results and team, including Benfica players such as Eusébio, Jaime Graça, José Henrique, Humberto Coelho, Rui Jordão, and Toni, the team missed the World Cup 1974 and 1978 qualifying matches, so this tournament was their best result until the 1984 European Football Championship.

Format[]

20 teams competed; 18 national teams as well as 2 representative sides from Africa and CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean).

First round[]

15 teams competed in the first round, while 5 teams (Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Scotland, Soviet Union, Uruguay) received byes to the final stage.

The teams are drawn into three groups of 5 teams. Each team plays each other team in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. The three first-placed teams advance to the final stage.

Final stage[]

The 8 teams are drawn into two groups of 4 teams. Each team plays each other team in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw.

The two group runners-up play each other in the third-place playoff.

The two group winners play each other in the final.

Venues[]

The tournament was played in 12 cities: Aracaju, Belo Horizonte, Campo Grande, Curitiba, Maceió, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.

Aracaju	Belo Horizonte		Campo Grande
Batistão	Mineirão	Estádio Independência	Morenão
Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 110,000	Capacity: 23,000	Capacity: 45,000
Curitiba	Maceió	Manaus	Natal
Estádio Couto Pereira	Estádio Rei Pelé	Vivaldão	Machadão
Capacity: 37,182	Capacity: 20,551	Capacity: 31,000	Capacity: 42,000
Porto Alegre	Recife	Rio de Janeiro	Salvador
Estádio Beira-Rio	Estádio do Arruda	Maracanã	Estádio Fonte Nova
Capacity: 106,000	Capacity: 60,000	Capacity: 200,000	Capacity: 80,000
São Paulo
Estádio do Pacaembu	Estádio do Morumbi
Capacity: 40,000	Capacity: 120,000

Squads[]

Group stage[]

Group A[]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Argentina (A)	4	3	1	0	13	1	+12	7
France	4	3	1	0	10	2	+8	7
Africa	4	1	1	2	3	4	−1	3
Colombia	4	1	0	3	7	13	−6	2
CONCACAF	4	0	1	3	3	16	−13	1

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Group B[]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Portugal (A)	4	4	0	0	12	2	+10	8
Chile	4	3	0	1	7	7	0	6
Republic of Ireland	4	2	0	2	7	7	0	4
Ecuador	4	0	1	3	4	9	−5	1
Iran	4	0	1	3	3	8	−5	1

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Group C[]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Yugoslavia (A)	4	3	1	0	15	3	+12	7
Paraguay	4	3	0	1	12	4	+8	6
Peru	4	2	0	2	5	3	+2	4
Bolivia	4	0	2	2	4	12	−8	2
Venezuela	4	0	1	3	3	17	−14	1

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Final stage[]

Group A[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Brazil (A)	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	5
2	Yugoslavia (A)	3	1	1	1	4	6	−2	3
3	Scotland	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
4	Czechoslovakia	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2

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Group B[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Portugal (A)	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	5
2	Argentina (A)	3	2	0	1	3	3	0	4
3	Soviet Union	3	1	0	2	1	2	−1	2
4	Uruguay	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2	1

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Third place match[]

Final[]

Goalscorers[]

13 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Own goals

References[]

• Macario Reyes: Brazil Independence Cup 1972, Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, 27 June 2007.
• Eliézer Sebastián Pérez Pérez: Brazil Independence Cup 1972 – Additional Details, RSSSF, 6 July 2007.

External links[]

• Sala de troféus Confederação Brasileira de Futebol, 27 May 2011. (Information about the Taça Independência)
• Tournament: Taça Independência (Mini-Copa), EU-Football.info (details about matches with European participation)