Brazil’s yellow shirt has been hijacked by the far right

A recent poll showed that 41 per cent of Brazilians now have no interest in their World Cup team, even more felt winning would not improve national self-esteem

ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA - JUNE 17: Willian and Neymar Jr of Brazil walk out for the second half during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group E match between Brazil and Switzerland at Rostov Arena on June 17, 2018 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. (Photo by Michael Regan - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Waning support: Brazil’s Neymar celebrates scoring in Brazil’s World Cup match against Costa Rica at St Petersburg Stadium in Russia last Friday. Brazil won the game 2-0 Getty Images

Located in the third city of Belo Horizonte, it was a giant concrete bowl with vast swathes of open car parks surrounding it, where trucks would pull up hours in advance of games and fans would start barbeques and drink beer and blare music and dance. ...