Guinness World Records recently recognized a 41-year-old Brazilian man for having the world’s largest collection of soccer shirts.
Cassio Brandão has collected 6,101 shirts since 2000. His collection includes rare Pelé jerseys and a 1998 World Cup shirt signed by Brazilian star Ronaldo.
"They are more than just 6,101 pieces of fabric; they are 6,101 stories that help us tell a bit of the history of soccer," Brandão told Reuters. Soccer is known as football in much of the world.
Brandão keeps the shirts at Alambrado Soccer & Culture, a collectors club he founded, in São Paulo. The club brings together 60 people who trade stories and jerseys. He wore white gloves as he showed the shirts to visitors.
Brandão's collection includes the shirt worn by Pelé when the Brazilian player met Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in 1968. She was the guest of honor at a game played at Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã stadium during an official visit to Brazil.
Pelé is the star at Alambrado. The club is filled with Pelé’s signed shirts and pictures. The Brazilian soccer player died in December 2022.
"Some shirts can go up to 40,000 reais, but a Pelé shirt is priceless," Brandão said. Forty thousand reais are worth about $7,200.
Brandão also displayed a 1994 Brazil jacket worn by seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton at last year's São Paulo Grand Prix. The British driver, an honorary Brazilian citizen, borrowed the jacket to wear at the event.
A large part of Brandão's collection is dedicated to his local club Corinthians. It includes jerseys from Ronaldo’s time with the club and shirts worn by his favorite player Socrates.
"Each shirt contains a story," Brandão said. "Stories of wins, losses, and overcoming. Stories that document a bit of the world's greatest sport."
I’m Mario Ritter, Jr.
