I increasingly think that Brazil’s early success in football was due in part to the fact that they were the first country to have the ethnic and racial balance that globalization and mass migration have since made common among the most successful teams. They were the first major side to field players of west African descent, mixed-race players, and European players, guided by a European coach. After the enormous human movement of the last few decades, this demographic mix looks remarkably similar to the makeup of many successful club and international teams today. Brazil were simply ahead of their time.
Now that Brazil are competing against Germany, Spain, England, and other nations operating with a similar “model”, it is inevitably much harder for them to maintain the same advantage.
@Steve_Sailer thoughts?