Nickname: Selecao
Manager: Dunga
Previous World Cup appearances: 18
Best finish: Winners 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002
Key players:
Kaka
Robinho
Pato
Adriano
Who's the best player in the world? He probably plays for Real Madrid, but his name is not Cristiano Ronaldo. So that must leave Kaka, the midfield magician who will be the focal point of Brazil's attempts to win their sixth World Cup.
The former AC Milan schemer - snapped up by Real along with Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the summer of 2009 - will be a marked man in South Africa in 2010 but this squad is bursting with attacking ability.
England found to their cost in November about Villarreal's Nilmar, the pacy forward who netted a brilliant header in Brazil's 1-0 friendly win over Fabio Capello's men in Doha.
The 20-year-old Alexandre Pato has shown glimpses of his stunning ability at AC Milan in recent seasons while Luis Fabiano of Sevilla has an incredible scoring record of 25 goals in 36 international appearances as of November 2009.
Fabiano netted 62 goals in 84 outings for Sao Paulo, and is more or less a goal a game for Sevilla. If he brings one thing to the table, it's goals.
The likes of Dani Alves (Barcelona) and Maicon (Inter Milan) continue the tradition of skilful, marauding full-backs like the great Cafu who are equally at home burning into the opposition's penalty area as they are in defensive positions.
Maicon featured in the voting for the 2009 Ballon d'Or, which gives you some idea of the impact he makes from full-back.
Former Bayer Leverkusen full-back Lucio, now 31, remains a calming influence for the Selecao at centre-back, with Luisao of Benfica a similarly commanding presence. Both can contribute valuable set-piece goals at the other end of the pitch, too.
In midfield Kaka will always operate in an advanced role behind the strikers, with Gilberto Silva shoring up the midfield, allowing Pato, Elano and Julio Baptista to bomb forward.
In attack the former Real Madrid man Robinho has bags of pace and skill - although he's sometimes looked lacking in ambition during his time at Manchester City in the Premier League - while Fabiano and the brilliantly named Hulk further increase the attacking options.
Brazil finished the South American qualifying group on 34 points - a slender one-point advantage over joint second-placed Chile and Paraguay.
Like South American rivals Argentina, Brazil are managed by a former star player, but the comparison ends there (coincidentally, both Maradona and Dunga won 91 international caps).
In Dunga, the vastly experience former Brazil international, they boast a shrewd manager who knows how to win football games.
He came under heavy attack at times during the qualfication campaign - at one stage his team went 298 minutes without scoring a goal.
But they came good in the end. As the only nation to have won World Cups on a foreign continent, one must expect them to make their mark again when summer 2010 rolls around.
