We will be in Rio in January, and would love to catch a soccer match. My son is football mad. I think that there won't be any matches then, though. Would there even be any local matches that we could see?

Thanks for your help.

Unfortunately no. The season runs from April to Dec. There's also no World Cup qualifiers at that time. If I come across mention of any other matches (maybe a friendly or something) I'll try to remember to post it here

Thanks Tully.

Guess he may just have to play beach soccer. I have heard it is rather big.

If he loves soccer, make sure you take him to Copacaban or Ipanema beach, so he can watch people playing soccer on the beach. It is a very nice sight.
Sure he will enjoy it.

Yes, we will go to the beach. Just to watch or perhaps they will let him play - though he is only 10.

Hi lorikeet. Before our trip to Brazil in September, I was trying to find out if there was a soccer match that my husband and I could attend. I searched all over the internet and found the schedules were very difficult to understand (and very last minute) so I wasn't sure if I understood them correctly. There is a well-known book about Brazilian futebol titled "Futebol Soccer, the Brazilian Way" by Alex Bellos. I had purchased a copy for my husband to read and ultimately found a website by Bellos. That website mentioned that Bellos had hooked up with someone who ran a business taking people to soccer games. His email address was listed and I wrote to him giving him our dates and asking whether there was a match. He replied that there wasn't. So while it didn't help us get to a match, I did feel pretty confident that in fact there really wasn't a match for us to see. So you might want to write him at [email protected] and see what he says. The website itself is www.futebolthebrazilianwayoflife.com.

Just to let you know, I have absolutely no affiliation with any of these people and will not make any profit. I am just a fellow fodorite with a soccer fan for a husband who was trying to find a game. Let us know what happens. Good luck.

That is so cool Wi1 - I will certainly give it a try. I also think it is out of season, but this msy lead to things. Anyway it goes, I think my boy will be playing football - on the beach at least! Looking forward to it so much!

Just for other football mad fans - I am researching another holiday and realised I hadn't followed up on this thread - but it was fantastic in Rio, although out of season. My son played beach football with other kids training on the beach. Very friendly and they couldn't speak each others language, but they definately had a great game of beach football! Just so wonderful and they included him.