The greatest football country on the planet is Brazil. Brazil is a country that wins 80% of its football matches. They have a record five Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup titles, eight Copa Ameríca de la Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol (CONMEBOL) titles and three FIFA Confederations Cup titles , which created a football giant. How did a peripheral country like Brazil become so dominant? What were the models of continuity and change that created this football Leviathan? How has this sport transcended individual cultures and cultural regions? What were the significant social, political and economic ramifications for everyone involved? Brazil's dominance in football is the indirect result of cross-cultural interactions established from the transcontinental links between people across the Atlantic and the dynamic changes that followed. The beginning of Brazilian football's greatness has its roots in the cross-cultural interactions within football. Atlantic world. According to Jerry Bentley, trade, mass migration and empire building are key categories in the process of intercultural interaction. Cross-cultural interaction beyond the South American continent did not occur until 1500. Before 1500, indigenous Brazilians were traditionally mostly semi-nomadic tribes who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering and migrant agriculture. Many of the approximately 2,000 nations and tribes that existed in 1500 disappeared as a result of European colonization. In 1500, Pedro Alvares Cabral sailed to Brazil by accident. After 1500, an influx of new people, both European and African, arrived. Europeans, Africans and indigenous peoples provided the right mix to create change...... middle of paper ......ss, ethnicity and color in the creation of Brazilian football. Daedalus Vol. 129, no. 2 (spring 2000): 239-270. Pelé. My life and the beautiful game: The autobiography of Pelé. New York: Doubleday, 1977. Povos Indígenas No Brasil. “Indigenous peoples”. Instituto Socioambiental. http://pib.socioambiental.org/en/c/no-brasil-atual/quem-sao/povos-indigenas (accessed December 17, 2009). Survival, the movement of tribal peoples. “Brazilian Indians”. International survival. http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/brazilian (accessed December 17, 2009). The Celebrity 100. “#55 Ronaldinho – The 2009 Celebrity 100.” Forbes.com LLC. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/53/celebrity-09_Ronaldinho_6KTK.html (accessed December 17, 2009). Value Checker. “2010 World Cup Odds.” Value checker. http://www.valuechecker.co.uk/best_22833794_7.htm (accessed December 17, 2009).