Alex Bellos has a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Oxford University. He has worked for the Guardian in London and Rio de Janeiro, where he was the paper's foreign correspondent. In 2006 he ghostwrote Pelé's autobiography, which was a number one bestseller, and he is also the author of the bestselling Alex's Adventures in Numberland.

@alexbellos

www.alexbellos.com

The Brazilian football team is one of the wonders of the modern world and legendary names like Pelé, Garrincha and Ronaldo inspire awe in football-lovers everywhere. But in Latin America's largest country, football also symbolises racial harmony, the madness of love and the flamboyance of youth - it's a sport that expresses the identity of a nation.

This edition of a book that is now a modern classic, updated to coincide with the 2014 World Cup, explores what makes Brazil the 'football country' it is. From the Amazonian jungle to the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Alex Bellos weaves a golden-yellow tapestry of stories of great names, great teams and great matches. Mixing fact with local legend, history and myth, in Futebol he uncovers what makes football the Brazilian way of life.

A thrilling picture of Brazilian society and its football which neatly combines reportage with sporting analysis

Magnificent ... Bellos has managed to perfectly capture the chaos and corruption and the romance and obsession and the feeling of what it's like to live in a genuinely football-obsessed nation

Hugely entertaining ... Required reading for anyone who intends to visit Brazil

An affectionate and shrewd account of the game ... Full of intriguing sidelights on Brazilian popular culture; its hedonism, piety and wondrous absurdity

A hugely enjoyable account of a nation obsessed with football

Bellos unearths some wonderful stories and tells them with humour, warmth and humanity.