BRAZIL PERSPECTIVE

Brasilia covers the World Cup with the passion of a five-time-champion country that knows this edition could be Neymar's last chance. Veja headlines on an "unprecedented ranking" created by FIFA to evaluate players during the tournament — a wording that reveals the body's marketing strategy to generate even more media attention. Folha de S. Paulo amplifies with an article on the ban on vuvuzelas and whistles in the stadiums — a striking symbol of the progressive dispossession of supporters from their rituals. The Brazilian press also tackles with lucidity the economic dimension: the 2022 Argentina Cup cost a fortune to Argentinians; the 2026 one risks being unaffordable to ordinary Brazilians despite the passion. Part of the Brazilian coverage adopts a spiritual or supernatural framing: the shark that "predicts" Brazil's winning start (on Al Jazeera relayed by the Brazilian press), the prayers for Bolsonaro, transfer market figures. This is typical of the Brazilian popular press, which mixes sport and superstition. The strategic subtext is more lucid: Brazil aspires to rebuild its international image after the internal political crises (Bolsonaro), and the World Cup is the symbolic occasion of this repositioning. The Seleção must win for reasons that go beyond sport: it is a question of national soft power at a moment when Brazil wants to consolidate its Global South leadership and hosts COP30 in November.