Brazilian fans look like a minority in the crowd of supporters of all origins wearing yellow “Seleção” jerseys, one of the favorite teams of this World Cup which starts on Sunday.

Everyone was overcome with emotion when the bus carrying the Brazilian players arrived late at night in Qatar, in front of the luxury hotel where the Brazilian players will be staying during the competition. before their first game on Thursday against Serbia.

“Why do non-Brazilians support the Brazilian team? Because it’s the best in the world, of course!”said Kelly Dias, director of a Brazilian cosmetics company, who traveled to Doha from Madrid where she lives.

“The majority of people who weren’t born in Brazil support us, You see it on the streets. Brazil is the favourite,” said the 39-year-old.

The fan group, “torcida”, stayed more than three hours near the Westin hotel in Doha to see their idol through the bus window: Neymar.

“I wanted to see Neymar, that’s why I came”explains Lijo Mathew in broken English, a 24-year-old Indian administrative employee who has lived in Qatar for seven years.

Some media condemned this “fake” supporters, paid to support Brazil, Argentina or Britain, to the dismay of authorities who denied this information was described as “disappointing and shocking”.

“That is wrong”

Haneef, who runs a public relations firm in Doha, doesn’t like the claims either.

He pulled out his phone to show a picture of a Brazil supporter he said he took at Bekal Fort, his hometown in the Indian state of Kerala.

“That’s wrong, that’s a misleading message. In Kerala, many Brazilian fans love Neymar. Brazil because you know, India is not very good at football,” he explained.

Like him, who have been Brazilian champions since their triumph in 2002, many believe that “Canarinha” will win the cup this year, for the sixth time in its history.

“Since the 1998 World Cup in France, I have supported Brazil. I’m really fanatical about Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Kaka,” said Badrudeen, who says he has worked in Qatar for four years.

“This will be our sixth world title”, said the man born in India 34 years ago in Kerala, wearing a “Seleção” jersey.

The presence of all these supporters from Asia and the Middle East hardly comes as a surprise to Erick Miranda, a 14-year-old Brazilian schoolboy, who lives in Qatar with his family. Quite the contrary.

“The atmosphere was great, with lots of people supporting our country took home the trophy for the sixth time. We are the best in the world,” he said.