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Netflix is a global player and while the streaming company doesn’t really reveal its numbers, we know which markets are the biggest and we know which markets account for the most subscribers.

Of course, the U.S. market is the biggest one, which is natural, but you might be surprised that neither the U.K. nor the French markets are the second-biggest, according to analyst data, but rather the Brazilian market, which accounts for roughly 20.6 million paid subscribers.

In light of that, at the recent mega creativity forum Rio2C, Netflix Brazil has revealed several major projects for the local market, but which could also interest global audiences as well.

Related: Here’s What’s Leaving Netflix in June 2025

The first major project is something that football (soccer) fans will thoroughly enjoy. It is a documentary series titled Brazil 70, which will explore Brazil’s journey to the 1970 FIFA World Cup win,...

Directors Fernando Coimbra (“A Wolf at the Door”) and top production houses Gullane (“Senna”), O2 Filmes (“City of God”) and Boutique Filmes (“3%”) feature among 10 new productions announced Monday by Netflix.

The new announcements matter. Netflix does not break out client figures for individual countries. Brazil ranks, however, as its second-biggest market globally with 20.6 million paid subscribers, according to global analyst Omdia estimates. That places it ahead of the U.K. (17.7 million), Germany (17.5 million), and France (14.6 million).

One of Brazil’s biggest challenges is to export its biggest swings. Save for a rare exception like “Senna,” Netflix Brazilian shows are not global plays. Yet some achieve global viewership via Netflix, led in 2024 by “Desperate Lies,” Burning Betrayal,” “Senna” (which bowed Nov. 29), “Bionic” and “Good Morning, Veronica” according to PlumResearch. Further breakouts this year take in “A Tragedy Foretold: Flight 3054,” “Sintonia,” “Senna,” “Burning Betrayal” and “Stranded with My Mother in Law,...

Picture: Brazil’s 1970 World Cup team

Another exciting sports period drama from Brazil is in development at Netflix. After producing the biopic on beloved F1 driver Ayrton Senna, the attention is now being turned to Brazil’s iconic World Cup winning team from the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. Details are limited, but filming will take place in Brazil and Mexico. Here’s what we know so far.

The Untitled Miniseries is a Brazilian sports drama created by Naná Xavier and Rafael Dornellas. Pedro Morelli and Paulo Morelli will direct it. It will be produced by 02 Filmes, the same studio behind the beloved film City of God. Since its founding in 1991, 02 Filmes has produced thousands of Brazilian films and television shows.

Picture left to right: Rafael Dornellas, Paulo Morelli, Pedro Morelli and Naná Xavier.

Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Fernando Meirelles, and Paulo Morelli are the executive producers representing 02 Filmes.

What...

Years ago, a young middle schooler named Franco went to a party with two of his best friends, Mario and Bolillo. It was not exactly a party, but rather a triple date scenario. There were only six people—Mario, Bolillo, both of their girlfriends, Franco, and another girl from school—who was far from pretty. Franco’s friends didn’t want to make him feel left out, and I assume it was the same for the girl. Soon, Mario’s girlfriend took him to her room. Franco also wanted to go, until he realized showing him the room was just an excuse to you-know-what. Bolillo and the girl ended up in the bathroom soon. Now, Franco was alone with the girl. He was not attracted to her as per se, but he was a young boy who didn’t think he had it in him to impress a woman, so...

That player was none other than the Brazilian legend Pele, regarded by most football aficionados as the greatest player ever to grace the football field.

Pele visited India twice — the first time in 1977 as part of the New York Cosmos team, which he had joined towards the end of his career, travelling across the world to promote the game through exhibition matches.

On his second visit in 2015, Pele arrived in New Delhi and then went to Kolkata on a week-long tour. He witnessed the Subroto Cup U-17 final in Delhi.

It was his visit in 1977 that generated huge interest in the country and is still remembered by thousands of fans who had lined-up the road from Kolkata’s Dum Dum to his hotel and then from his hotel to the Eden Gardens, which had around 80,000 spectators.

It was an especially memorable visit for the team from the iconic Mohun Bagan...

Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died Thursday. He was 82.

The standard-bearer of “the beautiful game” had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. The medical center where he had been hospitalized for the last month said he died of multiple organ failure as a result of the cancer.

“Pelé changed everything. He transformed football into art, entertainment,” Neymar, a fellow Brazilian soccer player, said on Instagram. “Football and Brazil elevated their standing thanks to the King! He is gone, but his magic will endure. Pelé is eternal!”

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Widely regarded as one of soccer’s greatest players, Pelé spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents as the game’s most prolific scorer with Brazilian club Santos and the Brazil national team.