The 1970 World Cup is widely regarded as the greatest ever staged, with more goals scored per game than any tournament since. Beyond the sheer number of goals, the overall quality of the football was exceptional. Some of the greatest teams in history, representing Argentina, West Germany, Uruguay, and England, came together to compete for the world title.

At the heart of the tournament were Brazil, led by Carlos Alberto and featuring legendary players such as Pel, Grson, Jairzinho, Rivellino, and Tosto. The 1970 Seleo are often cited as the greatest-ever World Cup team.

Using brand new interviews alongside painstaking archival research, Andrew Downie charts each stage of the World Cup in The Greatest Show on Earth, telling the remarkable story of the tournament in the players’ own words. The result is an immediate, insightful, and compelling narrative that paints an utterly unique portrait of an extraordinary few weeks when football hit peaks it has seldom even neared in the years before or since.