Roca Cup

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The Roca Cup (also known as Copa Roca) was a football competition contested between Argentina and Brazil from 1914 to 1976 on an irregular basis.

The competition was created by former president of Argentina, general Julio Roca in 1913. A football enthusiast, Roca was at the time the Argentinian ambassador in Brazil and felt matches between both countries would create a healthy rivalry and help the sport to develop. The Cup would be played each year in a different country, a fact that was actually kept in spite of the many changes to the Cup's format.

Julio Roca donated a trophy to the Argentine Football Federation and it was agreed that the competition would be played for three consecutive years in a single-leg format and the country with two wins would conquer the trophy forever. But in 1915 the Argentine Football Federation merged with Argentine Football Association, and the following matches were not played. In 1922, the Brazilian Sports Confederation agreed to dispute the competition again, which Brazil won for the second time, and thus claimed the Roca Cup ownership, even though Argentina beat them the following year.

In 1938, both football associations accepted to play the competition once again. The format was changed and the trophy would be kept by the most recent winner. In case the first two matches finished in draws or each team had a win, then a third leg had to be played. In January 1939, Argentina got a 5-1 victory in Rio de Janeiro. The following game was packed with incidents and the visiting team left the pitch enraged after the referee awarded a penalty to Brazil. However the home side went on to score a third goal when the Argentine team had already left the field in protest. A third and fourth match were played in São Paulo, giving the victory to Argentina. The 1940 edition was played in Argentina, where Argentina won two matches (6-1 and 5-1) and Brazil only one (2-3).

In 1957's match, at Maracanã, Pelé made his debut in Brazilian National Team, drafted by coach Silvio Pirilo.

From 1940 on, Brazil managed to win every edition, except for the 1971 Cup, when with two draws, the Cup was also declared tied.