Thirty-two years after Brazil’s victory at the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™, Boston, Massachusetts is once again at the heart of the game’s great travelling carnival. From downtown streets to Foxborough, supporters from around the world have descended in their numbers. Among them is one Brazilian player taking it in with particular feeling: Andressa Karolaine Freire Gomes Ferreira, better known as Kaká.

“Boston is famous for being a sporting city, and football has its place as well. It’s been fully embraced here,” said the Brazil international, who joined National Women’s Soccer League side Boston Legacy in January. “This year’s World Cup will go down in Boston’s history; that much is clear. The city deserves to enjoy this moment.”

The defender knows a thing or two about legacy. It is there in the name of her club, and in the one she carries herself. Her nickname inevitably invites comparisons with Brazilian football legend Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, the original Kaká.

“He has been my role model not only as a player but also as a person,” she said. “We share the same principles. He’s a man of faith, and that’s something I admire deeply. The name means a lot to me.”

Winning the FIFA World Cup™, something Brazil know better than most, leaves a mark that stretches far beyond the final whistle. The Seleção’s fifth title at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™ cemented their status as the game’s most successful nation, but the USA 1994 victory struck a special chord with many in the United States and beyond.

“That was five years before I was born, so I don’t remember it myself, but I’ve heard so many stories. People in Brazil love to look back on that campaign,” said Kaká. “It had been a long wait, and that victory meant the world to us. That generation showed what perseverance and hard work look like.”

But not all World Cups leave the same impression. Some build legends; others shatter dreams. Kaká was only two when her namesake’s team lifted the trophy in 2002, but the Brasília-born centre-back has plenty of memories of the emotional rollercoaster of the 2014 tournament on home soil.

Although Brazil’s run unravelled when Germany knocked them out in the semi-finals in a 71 thrashing one July evening, she prefers to focus on the positives: “We had painted our street and decorated every corner of the neighbourhood. We treated every match as if it were our last. I’ll never forget that.”

Thirteen years later, Brazil is set to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, with the tournament due to kick off on 24 June 2027, exactly one year from today. Kaká is already imagining her place in it.

“I’m following the 2026 World Cup closely, trying to soak up every emotion. It’s inspiring,” she said. “I hope to be even closer to the action in 2027 – out on the pitch.” From the heroes of 1994 to the memories of 2014, from Boston’s celebrations in 2026 to Brazil’s turn to host in 2027, the thread that runs through it all is legacy – one carried across generations, shaped by tournaments and still very much being written. For Kaká, the next chapter may yet be her own.