The Golden Era and Pelé (1958 to 1970)

Brazil's coach, , imposed strict rules on the squad for the , held . The players were given a list of forty things that they were not allowed to do, including wearing hats or umbrellas, smoking while wearing official clothing and talking to the press outside of allocated times. They were the only team to bring a (because the memories of 1950 still affected some players) or a (for, because of their humble origins, many players had dental problems, which caused infections and also had negative impact on performance) with them, and had sent a representative to Europe to watch the qualifying matches a year before the tournament began.
Brazil were drawn in the toughest group, , the and . They beat Austria 3–0 in their first match, then drew 0–0 with England. The Brazilians had been worried about their match with the USSR who had exceptional fitness and were one of the favourites to win the tournament; their strategy was to take risks at the beginning of the match to try and score an early goal. Before the match, the leaders of the team, Bellini, Nílton Santos, and Didi, spoke to coach and persuaded him to make three substitutions which were crucial for Brazil to defeat the Soviets and win the Cup: , and would start playing against the USSR. From the kick off, they passed the ball to Garrincha who beat three players before hitting the post with a shot. They kept up the pressure relentlessly, and after three minutes which were later described as "the greatest three minutes in the history of Vavá gave Brazil the lead. They won the match 2–0. Pelé scored the only goal of their quarter-final match against , and they beat 5–2 in the semi-final. Brazil beat the hosts , in the final 5–2, winning their first World Cup and becoming the first nation to win a World Cup title outside of its own continent. A celebrated fact was that Feola would sometimes take naps during training sessions and would sometimes close his eyes during matches, giving the impression that he was asleep. Because of thiswas sometimes said to be the real coach of the team, as he commanded the mid-field.
In the , Brazil got its second title with as the star player; a mantle and responsibility bestowed upon him after regular talisman, was injured during the first group match against Mexico and unable to play for the rest of the tournament.
In the the preparation of the team was affected by political influences. All the major Brazilian clubs wanted their players included in the Brazilian team, to give them more exposure. In the final months of preparation, the coach was working with 46 players, of which only 22 would go to England; this caused lots of internal dispute and psychological pressure. The result was that, in 1966, Brazil had their worst performance in all World Cups. Of course, another perhaps bigger issue, was that Pelé (who may have been at the height of his career) was chopped at seemingly every opportunity in the group matches.
Brazil won its third World Cup in Mexico in the . Brazil fielded what has been considered to be the best football squad ever, led by Pelé in his last World Cup final, captain and . After winning the for the third time Brazil were allowed to keep it for good.