Brazil Heads To Its 23rd World Cup Finals

Posted on June 11, 2025 by Critical Divide

Despite a lacklustre campaign, Brazil has kept its record of being the only nation to qualify for every World Cup finals. The finals in 2026 will be Brazil’s 23rd appearance, of which they have won five.

From South America Brazil joined Argentina, the current World Champions, in qualifying, and Ecuador have also now booked their spot in the finals. Six teams from South America will qualify, with the seventh-placed finisher going into the FIFA Play-Off Tournament.

With two rounds to go in September, the favourites to advance with Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador are currently Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia, with Venezuela and Bolivia fighting it out for that play-off spot.

Brazil women’s team has already qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027 as it is Brazil that will host the 10th edition of the tournament from 24 June to 25 July 2027. Brazil is the first South American country to host the tournament.

Record numbers for Rio: The Guide

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Critical Divide

The Insider’s Guide to Rio, since 2014 in the form of www.riotheguide.com, continues to inform readers about travelling to-and-visiting Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, with a lot of people using it to learn about Rio’s carnival.

Despite zero support from any tourist board in Brazil, the independent site continues to grow with a record 37,500 views in 2024. The site, as of 10 March, has been viewed 11,000 times so far in 2025, with over 4,000 of these visitors using it to get their information about Rio’s recent carnival.

Thank you for being one of the growing number of readers of Rio: The Guide.

Brazil to Host 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Posted on May 17, 2024 by Critical Divide

The FIFA Women’s World Cup and 31 teams will be flying down to Rio de Janeiro and nine other Brazilian cities in 2027 to join the Brazilian team after FIFA chose Brazil to host the 10th edition of the Women’s World Cup. The first nation to be handed the rights by an open vote, with member associations voting 119 to 78 in favour of Brazil over a joint bid by Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Brazil has already successfully hosted the men’s World Cup in 1950 and 2014 and are expected to use the Maracanã Stadium (Rio de Janeiro), NeoQuímica Arena (São Paulo), Mineirão (Belo Horizonte), Mané Garrincha (Brasília), Fonte Nova (Salvador), Castelão (Fortaleza), Arena Pernambuco (Recife), Beira-Rio (Porto Alegre), Arena Pantanal (Cuiabá) and the Arena da Amazônia (Manaus) for games.

The exact dates of the tournament are not yet known, but probably June and July of 2027. The tournament will follow the same 32-team format as was used in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand.

Baía do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha, world’s best beach for 2023

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Critical Divide

Baía do Sancho, on Fernando de Noronha, is the world’s best beach for 2023, according to Tripadvisor. Ipanema in Rio is at number 19 on the list.

Top ten for 2023 is:

Baia do Sancho, Brazil
Eagle Beach, Aruba
Cable Beach, Australia
Reynisfjara Beach, Iceland
Grace Bay Beach, Turks and Caicos
Praia da Falésia, Portugal
Radhanagar Beach, India
Spiaggia dei Conigli, Italy
Varadero Beach, Cuba
Ka’anapali Beach, Hawaii

Art for Art’s Sake – The Contemporary Galleries of São Paulo

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Critical Divide

Following the listing of the most interesting contemporary and modern art galleries in Rio de Janeiro, we have been asked if we had a similar list for São Paulo.

Ao we have asked our good friends at Ronya, one of Brazil’s leading experts in sourcing, acquiring, and maintaining art, to come up with some suggestions of the commercial art galleries in São Paulo where you can find some of the best and most interesting contemporary and modern Brazilian art and discover new emerging talents.

Ronya’s pick for São Paulo is:

Jardins