In the slums of Rio de Janeiro, the favelas, soccer might be the only chance to escape from the omnipresent atmosphere of violence and crime. Ten or eleven year-old boys who play soccer on the streets dream of a future as a professional soccer player, of a real shirt and a real club. Solo, The Law of the Favela focuses on this dream of a number of boys against the background of the everyday life in the favela, at the time of the World Cup Soccer Championships in the USA. The film focuses on Anselmo and Leonardo, two friends, eleven years of age, who play soccer together in one of the clubs of the favelas.

When a scout of the rich soccer club Fluminense appears, it looks life their dreams come true. We follow the boys on a path which should lead them to a contract with a big soccer club. It is an arduous path. This becomes all the more true when Anselmo forgets to bring his shoes to the match in which he is supposed to prove himself.

After this match Leonardo is forced to choose: either to continue playing in the favela with his friend or to go to a big club alone, where he can earn money for his mother. The question is whether this is a real choice for him, or nothing more than "the law of the favela," which, one way or another, has its grip on all of these kids.