Well-travelled Brazil fans in Singapore relish chance to watch football stars on ‘home’ turf

SINGAPORE – Ask Brazil fan Diego Romero how much he has spent chasing his national team around the world and he can give only a vague estimate. “Thousands and thousands,” is his answer, delivered with a sheepish smile.

The 2026 World Cup, he said, was supposed to mean another “priceless” trip abroad to support his beloved Brazil national team in the most iconic sporting event. But the birth of his daughter in 2025 changed those plans.

With a young family and another long-haul trip on the horizon, travelling to the 2026 tournament in North America became far less practical and so the Sao Paulo-born 40-year-old stayed home.

As it turned out, Brazil have arrived at his doorstep instead.

Having followed the Selecao at three consecutive World Cups – Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 – Romero will get to see the five-time world champions live after all when Brazil face Japan and Singapore on Nov 14 and 17 respectively as part of the Mizuho Blue Challenge – The Kallang Football Series Singapore.

Romero, who moved to Singapore in 2020 and works in the tech industry, said he snapped up tickets for both matches “as soon as they went on sale”.

“It was a way to compensate for missing the World Cup,” said Romero, who lives near the National Stadium at The Kallang and spent about $12,000 for his trip to watch Brazil at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“I was very much looking forward to going to the World Cup but with my daughter only being just a year old, I had to prioritise other things and went to Brazil to visit the family instead... But then we heard about Brazil coming here and I was over the moon.”

Like many of his compatriots, Romero was obsessed with football from a young age and said that his devotion to the Selecao goes back to 1994, when Romario led Brazil to World Cup triumph.

He remembers crying as a 12-year-old after the 1998 final loss to France.

He has attended several home matches in Brazil during World Cup qualification matches over the years and watched the 2019 Copa America in Brazil, including Brazil’s semi-final against arch rivals Argentina, and their triumphant final against Peru at the iconic Maracana Stadium.

“Football,” said Romero, “is in our tradition, our DNA. And the national team is a huge part of all our lives as a Brazilian and I’ve been fortunate enough to experience some incredible moments along the way watching the team.”

A family affair

Romero will be bringing his wife, his daughter – who already owns a Brazil jersey with her name on the back – and the family’s domestic helper from the Philippines, who has become a Brazil fan after watching matches at home alongside her employers.

In Singapore, most of Romero’s connection with his compatriots has also come through football with the Brazilian Football Association, a social team set up here in the 1990s. Consisting mainly of Brazilians based in Singapore, they play in futsal and 11-a-side matches each week.

Against Japan and the Lions, Romero is also looking forward to meeting more fellow Brazilians living in Singapore and is confident the stands will be filled with the unmistakable fervour, colour and samba spirit of Brazil’s passionate fans.

Fellow Sao Paulo native Henrique Rodrigues Queiroz, 34, is also looking forward to watching his country in Singapore.

He had supported the team at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cups but also skipped travelling to North America for the 2026 edition as his daughter was born in April, just months before the tournament kicked off.

Henrique, who moved to Singapore also in 2020, said he is excited at the prospect of watching Brazil’s next generation take shape.

“I am looking forward to the revamp of the national team,” said the commercial regional manager. “(Carlo) Ancelotti has called upon new players that I would like to see but also the two key men Raphinha and Vinny (Vinicius Jr).”

Brazilian fan Matheus Sena, a senior tax manager based in Singapore, who moved here in 2014, is thrilled at getting to watch his national team at the National Stadium for the second time. In 2019, he was among the 20,385 who witnessed Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Nigeria.

“I am very excited, especially because I am going with my kid and back in 2019 he was young and was not much (interested in) football,” said Sena, whose son Nate Paladino is now 14.

“Now he cares more and wants to see the match. The Brazilian community has a WhatsApp group and people are very engaged and organising themselves to attend the matches. All my Brazilian friends are going to at least one match.”

Unfazed by recent struggles

While Brazil are record five-time world champions, they last won the World Cup in 2002 and recent teams have struggled to replicate the success, or style, of previous generations.

A 2-1 defeat by Norway in the last 16 at the World Cup in July marked the end of their latest campaign, and the worst finish for Brazil in a World Cup since 1990.

Some fans have grown frustrated with what they perceive as a lack of collective fight, and a disconnect caused by playing friendly matches mostly abroad – only one of nine their friendlies in 2026 (including the two games in Singapore) has been played at home.

But the team’s supporters in Singapore see things differently.

Romero said Brazil football’s culture of expecting only the best of its footballers has hurt the next generation.

“For us, the word should be support and not pressure,” he said.

Against Japan, he hopes for a game with plenty of goals and against Singapore, he will root for both sides.

“I’ll be celebrating both goals,” said Romero. “I’ll be happy if Singapore makes it harder for Brazil. Singapore is my home now.”

Sena will similarly be supporting both sides, and said: “It feels weird somehow, although I am Brazilian, I can’t cheer against Singapore, a place that I love so much. Maybe a draw could be a good result for me.”