Brazil 2014
Brazil hosted the 2014 World Cup with the weight of 200 million people on their shoulders and the ghosts of 1950 watching from the Maracanã. Neymar carried the team through the group stage and knockout rounds with goals and flair, but a fractured vertebra in the quarter-final against Colombia ended his tournament. Without Neymar and the suspended Thiago Silva, Brazil faced Germany in the semi-final at the Mineirão in Belo Horizonte. What followed was the most devastating 18 minutes in World Cup history: Germany scored five goals before half-time Müller, Klose, Kroos (twice), and Khedira while Brazilian players stood frozen and fans sobbed in the stands. The final score was 7-1. The Mineirazo named as a mirror to the Maracanazo became the greatest humiliation in Brazilian football history, surpassing even 1950 in its sheer brutality. An entire nation watched in real time as their World Cup dream became a nightmare they will never forget.