Spanish adventure at the 1950 World Cup

the political uses of football

Abstract

This article aimed to analyze how the participation of the Spanish soccer team in the 1950 World Cup was used as a political instrument. To achieve this goal, a documentary research was carried out in Spanish pro-Franco newspapers and a Brazilian sports journal: the “Jornal dos Sports”. The Brazilian newspaper searched for news relating to the games played by the Spanish team during the 1950 World Cup. The conclusion is that football was used by the dictatorship led by Franco and that the participation of the Spanish national team in the Brazilian World Cup was skillfully used by the Franco leaders to enhance the image of Spain vis-à-vis the rest of the world.