Ronaldinho Commemorates Brazil’s 2002 FIFA World Cup Triumph

Ronaldinho Commemorates Brazil’s 2002 FIFA World Cup Triumph

Edwin Kiplagat
updated at June 30, 2023 at 5:26 PM
  • Brazil won the 2002 World Cup on this day in 2002
  • They beat Germany 2-0 to lift their fifth World Cup trophy
  • Ronaldinho has recalled one of the greatest nights of his career

It is exactly 21 years since Brazil won their fifth World Cup in 2002 in Japan and South Korea.

They defeated Germany in the final 2-0 thanks to a Ronaldo brace. Ronaldinho, who made his mark in the tournament, has recalled the historic day.

Ronaldinho, Brazil, Ronaldo, Barcelona, 2002 FIFA World Cup, Roberto Carlos, Japan South Korea
Ronaldinho at the 2002 World Cup. Photos by Alain Gadoffre and Olivier Prevosto/Onze/Icon Sport.
Source: Getty Images

Brazil had won the 1994 World Cup but suffered a painful 3-0 defeat to France in the 1998 final to France. So they went into the 2002 tournament looking g to right the wrongs of the previous showpiece. And they did it in a sensational fashion.

The Selecao were in a relatively easy group of Turkey, Costa Rica, and China. They comfortably won all of their group games. All the pre-tournament doubts had vanished, and the South Americans looked invincible.

They comfortably beat Belgium in the last 16. In the quarters, Ronaldinho scored an iconic free-kick to give Brazil a hard-fought 2-1 win. They went on to beat Turkey 1-0 in the semis before defeating Germany 2-0 in the final.

Ronaldo was the talisman for Brazil, scoring eight goals to win the golden boot.

Ronaldinho remembers 2002 World Cup win

Ronaldinho took to Twitter to remember one of the greatest nights of their career. He scored two goals in the tournament, per Transfermarkt.

"06/30/02 day I became world champion! A special moment for all of us Brazilians..." he wrote. Many thanks to everyone in this group who gave their all to achieve this dream. We are in history!!!"

Unfortunately, that was the last World Cup Brazil won. Despite churning out talented players since then, they have underwhelmed in the subsequent tournaments. In the Qatar showpiece in 2022, they suffered an agonizing quarter-final loss to Croatia.

Lame helps fan get Ronaldinho autograph

Sports Brief earlier reported on Tiktoker Khaby Lame helping a fan get a Ronaldinho autograph.

The Tiktoker, who boasts over 160 million followers on the platform, recently played in Ronaldinho’s team in‘The Beautiful Game’ charity football match in Orlando.

A young lad ran up to Ronaldinho in a desperate attempt to get his shirt signed by the 43-year-old Brazil legend, but he was stopped.

Lame then took it upon himself to personally ask Ronaldinho to sign the shirt before sprinting and handing it over to the fan.

Authors
Edwin Kiplagat photo
Edwin Kiplagat
Edwin Kiplagat has five years of experience in journalism working as a Sports Editor at Africa Insight Communications and ESPN. Edwin Kiplagat is a Bachelor's Degree holder in journalism from the Multimedia University of Kenya.