In 1979, FIFA decreed that national confederations overseeing football should focus solely on the sport. Since the old C...BD was not solely focused on soccer, it was abolished, leading to the formation of various confederations for different sports. One of these was the CBF.
To celebrate the creation of the new entity, a friendly match was held at the Maracanã in 1980 between the Brazilian national team and the Brazilian youth team. That match marked Telê Santana's debut. The Brazilian national team thrashed the youth team 7-1. However, the crowd was smaller than expected, with only 12,000 people attending despite the stadium's capacity of over 200,000.