Residents of the Favela gather to watch Brazil play Mexico. All wear the canary-yellow jerseys of the national team.

The Cantagalo Favela is perched on a hill, steps away from Ipanema beach. Throughout Brazil, 11 Million people live in Favelas without ordered access to sewage, garbage collection or running water.

Festivities spawn through the Favela as the game nears. A national holiday is declared whenever Brazil plays and workers are sent home two hours before kickoff.

Officers of the specialized Pacifying Police Unit look on. In the years prior to the world cup these police units engaged in fierce street battles with local criminal gangs for control of the favelas. Their hold remains tenuous. “Don’t photograph me.” orders a police officer. He himself lives in another favela. Becoming known as a police officer puts him in danger there.

“Comando Vermelho kills Pacifying Police” reads the graffiti. It uses an acronym for the drug gang controlling most of the city's favelas. In the five months preceding the World Cup 110 police officers were shot in Rio de Janeiro.

A boy watches the game wearing Neymar’s no. 10 Jersey. In a country where 1 of 4 people lives in poverty, often football is the only way out.

It becomes clear this is not a good game for Brazil. The Mexican goalkeeper Ochoa miraculously stops a succession of shots by the Brazilian strikers. “He is bewitched” exclaims a woman.

The match ending with a goalless draw, residents break off to entertain themselves.

Ochoa kills the evening. Brazil’s five world championships are celebrated on the café wall. A spot is reserved for the coveted Hexa, the 6th title.

Three weeks later, on the 8th of July, 2014, Brazil met Germany at the Semi-Final. In a game that left a nation of 200 million people numbed with shock, it was routed 7:1.