I Went to a Futebol Match in Rio de Janeiro and It Ended Up Being One of My Craziest Travel Experiences Yet

As far as crazy travel stories go, this one was actually, beginning to end, the COOLEST experience and one I feel extremely lucky to have had.

But let’s set the scene. We’re in Rio de Janeiro and going on a favela tour (an activity I found enriching and incredibly interesting).

While on that tour, our guide was wearing a Vasco de Gama shirt and talking about how excited he was to go to the big game that night – apparently there was a big rivalry match between two of the biggest clubs (teams) in Rio: Flamengo and Vasco de Gama.

We really wanted to catch a futebol (soccer) match while in Rio—Brazilians are passionate about the sport, and Maracanã Stadium is one of the most iconic places in the world to watch it.

But we’d had a hard time finding any solid info about tickets or even a match schedule online, so we eventually gave up and figured it just wasn’t going to happen.

So I jumped at the opportunity to get information from a local who clearly knew things, and asked him if he could give us any information about how to get tickets for the game.

He immediately invited us to go with him – he said he was going to scalp tickets there for himself anyway and could definitely find 2 more for us. At first, we were like, “Um are you sure?”, but then happily (but cautiously optimistic- would it really work out?) accepted his offer. We exchanged numbers and made plans to meet up at the stadium later.

At the Stadium

When we got to the Maracanã stadium about an hour before gametime, there were big crowds of people congregating and getting SUPER hyped up before the game: setting off firecrackers, singing cheers nonstop, and getting absolutely plastered.

We met up with our new Brazilian friend and in fact he had gotten us tickets! We were golden! He introduced us to all his friends, who were all incredibly warm and welcoming to us foreigners, and in we went.

Just getting into the stadium was an experience in itself. We entered with a huge crowd, and right as we were walking in, someone set off a firecracker right in front of us. Everyone instinctively backed up fast, and we got jostled and npushed up against the wall in the commotion.

Then, we had to find the rest of the group in the stands, who had gone in at a different entrance.

What made it even crazier was that we were heading into the section behind the goals, where the most intense fans gather. There’s no assigned seating here, and everyone was packed in tight, shoulder to shoulder, with barely any space to move.

People were standing in the staircases so we had to wind our way up and really squeeze past people. Then almost everyone was standing two deep in the rows – meaning someone was standing on the seat and another person standing on the ground in front of them.

People were super sweaty as we were squeezing past them (but everyone was also really, really nice about it) and beer was literally flying as people tossed their cups in the air as the game started.

Normally, I’m not really into the “beer flying in my hair” vibe, but we were at MARACANA so it was all just part of the fun!

During the match, the fans literally were singing songs nonstop. In contrast to the US, where you usually watch the game, clap/cheer for good plays, and occasionally sing along to a very short cheer, Brazilians sing full-on “cheer songs” literally nonstop the entire game. And these weren’t cutesy songs, people were insanely passionate in these songs from start to finish.

There were massive flags being waved in our section, and a group with drums playing beats in the stands.

I’ve been to college and professional sports games in the US and fans are intense here too, but this was a whole different beast of nonstop singing, cheering, and yelling the whole game. The vibes were great: we were just leaning into the chaos and living our best lives.

We don’t speak Portuguese really at all, so we just clapped and jumped and cheered with everyone and sang along to random sounds with their songs.

After the Game

So then, the match is over (the side we were with, Vasco de Gama, lost to Flamengo, which was pretty much expected because Flamengo is known to be the better team), and we figured we would just walk out and grab an Uber. Easy peasy.

Oh, no no no. One does not just *grab an Uber* after a big match at Maracanã.

We hung out in our seats with the group for a while after the game to let the crowd disperse, and specifically to avoid most of the troublemakers, because fights can and do break out after games.

Still, as we left, we heard some more bangs, like the fireworks that were going off a lot before the game, but we were told afterwards there wouldn’t be fireworks and that was not a good sign.

As we left the stadium, our Brazilian friends were keeping us close and making sure we stayed together, and they were more serious and intense than anytime up to that point. At the street corner, we found out what the bangs were – not firecrackers, but tear gas that the police were using to disperse some fights and troublesome crowds.

We got the tail end of that tear gas (it spreads a lot), so everyone in the area just huddled and covered noses and eyes for a few minutes. Even not being in a direct hit area, that tear gas stung!

Then we carefully skirted by a Flamengo fan holding a handgun and walking menacingly (the only part of the night where I actually felt nervous).

Then we hustled by a whole bunch of riot police looking threatening, in full-on riot gear, including some on horses, and into the metro station. Of course, here some Vasco fans began hurling insults down at Flamengo fans. The police came running by and decided to break up that ruckus with more tear gas as we got on the train, and we got part of that tear gas, too.

Then, the metro started and we rode back to our stop in peace and calm. The whole thing was one adrenaline rush to another, and one of my craziest travel stories to date. Despite what seemed like a tense situation after the game, we actually felt pretty safe – the Brazilians we were with were super nice about watching out for us and got us out without incident.

When we were on the train and going, we asked them, “so, was that actually dangerous?” And they just laughed and said oh, no it’s always like this (REALLY?!) and it’s usually fine as long as you aren’t in the middle of the main, crazy group.

That was our baptism by fire into Brazilian futebol! It was seriously so fun and wild and such a different and authentic experience that just fell into our laps. The guys we were with were unbelievably nice and welcoming, and we loved having this crazy, local experience.

When we got back to our hotel, we just looked at each other and laughed— a night like no other, to be sure.