Brazil 1982
The Brazil of Spain 1982 is widely regarded as the greatest team never to win the World Cup. Telê Santana's side played football of breathtaking beauty: Zico, Sócrates, Falcão, and Éder formed a midfield quartet that treated every match as an art form. They swept through the group stage with three wins, scoring freely and thrilling the world. But in the second group phase, they met Italy in one of the most celebrated matches ever played. Needing only a draw to advance, Brazil refused to sit back it was not in their nature. Paolo Rossi scored a hat-trick in a pulsating 3-2 that eliminated the most talented squad on the planet. The defeat is mourned in Brazil to this day. Sócrates later said: "We lost to Italy, but we won for football." The 1982 Seleção proved that beauty and greatness are not always measured in trophies.