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The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in less than two weeks, and in Massachusetts, home to the second largest community of Brazilians in the U.S., there is a lot of planning underway to transform local spaces to watch the soccer tournament. Esteban Bustillos from member station GBH in Boston has more.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS, BYLINE: Multiple teams of soccer players run around two indoor fields in the town of Hanover, about an hour southeast of Boston. Standing in the middle of one is Fabio Takahashi. He's the head coach of Cruzeiro Boston Academy. That's a youth branch of a Brazilian soccer club. Takahashi grew up in Brazil. He knows firsthand just how much the game means to his home country, especially when it's World Cup time.
FABIO TAKAHASHI: For Brazilian people, World Cup is - it's a ritual, right? Like, I mean, I remember - I can tell you, like, where I was in every World Cup since 1986.
BUSTILLOS: That's probably true for most members of the Brazilian diaspora in Massachusetts. While Brazil won't be playing any group stage matches in nearby Foxborough, where the NFL's New England Patriots play, excitement is high to see the five-time world champions playing in the U.S. Brazil is the only team to make every World Cup, and they have the most World Cup titles. This makes trying to get a Brazil ticket about as easy as finding $3 gas. Takahashi looked into tickets for Brazil's opening match against Morocco and New Jersey. He found prices of over $1,000, but even that didn't scare him off.
TAKAHASHI: I'm 45 years old, correct? I've never been to a World Cup, never seen my team playing in the World Cup. And I think that's the only - going to be my only chance in my lifetime, right? So yeah, it's worth it, for sure.
HELOISA GALVAO: It is a cultural thing.
BUSTILLOS: That's Heloisa Galvao with local nonprofit the Brazilian Women's Group, which focuses on services around areas like immigrants rights. She was in Brazil in 1970 when the team won its third World Cup amid a tense military dictatorship. She still remembers the jubilation after Brazil's victory.
GALVAO: People were celebrating with the soldiers, with the military, with the horses. Everybody was so happy. For, like, an hour, half an hour, people forgot about the horrible, the awful dictatorship that was killing and torturing, disappearing with people.
BUSTILLOS: It's an experience that hasn't left her.
GALVAO: The only thing that mattered to us was that Brazil won.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Inaudible).
BUSTILLOS: At Oliveira's Steak Bar and Grill in Everett, north of Boston, which has a large Brazilian community, owner Wilton Rangel is gearing up. His restaurant is a haven for Brazil fans, with one half a sports bar focusing on soccer. When Brazil played France and a friendly in the Boston area in March, the place was packed with hundreds of people, and Rangel is expecting it to be even busier for the Cup.
WILTON RANGEL: I'm not going to have space now for everybody, that I'll tell you.
BUSTILLOS: 2025 was, in his words, a lousy year, as ICE activity instilled fear in his customer base.
RANGEL: They took a lot of my customers. Yeah, a lot of people I know, friends - they took them.
BUSTILLOS: But with Brazil on the world's biggest stage, there's a lot to look forward to and lots of money to be made.
RANGEL: All the game, we're going to be busy, but the Brazilian game, they're going to be way more busy.
BUSTILLOS: Brazil playing stateside for the World Cup will be a big deal, whether or not they play in Massachusetts. But no matter where they take the pitch, some of the game's most passionate fans will be watching closely across the Commonwealth and across the world. For NPR News, I'm Esteban Bustillos in Boston.
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