International career

Adriano, with 36 caps and 25 goals to his credit, is often considered as the long-term successor to Ronaldo in the Brazilian national team. During the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, Adriano was named Player of the Tournament and received the Golden Boot Award as the competition's leading scorer with five goals. In the final, he steered Brazil to an unforgettable victory. Two outstanding goals helped Brazil to beat Argentina 4-1, the first one coming from a blistering left-footed shot in the 11th minute. The second came as a result of a Cicinho cross, with Adriano heading it in. This goal was also impressive because Brazil's players passed the ball among themselves for more than one minute, with most of the players participating in the build-up to the goal.

Adriano was called up to the Brazilian national side ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He lined up alongside Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka in what was expected to be an impressive attacking foursome, touted in the press as the "Magic Quartet." Brazil were heavy favourites to lift the cup. He opened his World Cup account on June 18, 2006, scoring the first goal in a 2-0 win against Australia. He also scored the second goal in a 3-0 victory against Ghana. The goal against Ghana was Brazil's 200th goal in World Cup history. (Pelé scored the 100th in the 1970 World Cup Final.)

Brazil met France in the World Cup quarterfinals, and managed only one shot on goal the entire match, whilst France, inspired by a resurgent Zinedine Zidane, managed to grab a goal in the 57th minute to put themselves through to the final. Adriano started the game on the bench, and only came as a substitute after France had scored.

Despite scoring twice (once against Ghana, once against Australia), Adriano's World Cup campaign was considered a disappointment, as he had just five shots all tournament, while Brazil as a whole were unable to find the right mix between defence and attack.

He has not been selected by the new Brazilian manager Dunga.