How can we account for the sharply differing perceptions and impact of Argentinian and Brazilian football in England in the third quarter of the twentieth century? Was this simply the result of television, or were historical forces also at play, ranging from Britain's legacy of 'informal empire' to deeply ingrained and racialized perceptions of Argentina as 'European' and Brazil as racially exotic? It was media coverage of the FIFA World Cup from 1958 which first drew South American football into a more mainstream position in English popular culture. Argentina came to be demonised in England as defensive, brutal and unsporting whereas 'tropical-modern' Brazil was perceived as fair-minded, beautiful and instinctive. The World Cups in 1958 and 1962 established these stereotypes, accentuated by the great Brazilian team in Mexico in 1970. Most significantly from a historical perspective, an ailing Brazil retained its position in English public affection whilst Argentina continued to be stigmatised in the 1970s, despite returning to its earlier blend of individual brilliance and attacking verve. These national constructions were created by persistent (mis)representations, a combination of media manipulation, racialized cultural assumptions and lingering post-imperial conflict, articulated notably in the Falklands War. Sporting preferences were both real and imagined, formed directly through media accounts of the World Cup and indirectly in the wider interplay of national stereotypes and historical contingency.