Brazil’s national soccer team goalkeeper Alisson Becker will wear a green kit instead of the originally planned red uniform during their World Cup match against Scotland on Wednesday, reflecting underlying political tensions surrounding the team’s colors.
The change marks a departure from the uniform initially approved by FIFA, which had slated Alisson to wear an all-red outfit for Brazil’s final Group C game. The Liverpool player wore black and pink kits during Brazil’s earlier matches against Morocco and Haiti. However, Brazilian football authorities opted to replace the red kit with green, one of the traditional colors of Brazil’s flag and the Selecao’s heritage.
The move comes amid a polarized political landscape in Brazil, where the national team’s iconic yellow and green colors have become symbols entwined with political identity. Supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently imprisoned for plotting a coup after losing last year’s elections to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have long adopted the green and yellow as part of their political messaging. Meanwhile, Lula, who is seeking re-election in October, favors red, the traditional color representing the left and his Workers’ Party, though red is rarely associated with the team’s official kit.
Samir Xaud, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), told ESPN that the decision to drop the red kit in favor of green was planned well in advance and intended to emphasize national colors. Last August, Xaud reportedly requested that Nike, the team’s outfitter since 1996, cancel the red uniforms to highlight the Brazilian flag’s colors. He denied political motivations behind the move.
The CBF later refuted reports that Xaud vetoed the red kit, stating that FIFA had approved it without realizing it was not part of Brazil’s official World Cup gear.
The politicization of the Selecao’s kit reflects broader societal divisions. Some Brazilians avoid wearing the green-and-yellow jerseys to distance themselves from Bolsonaro’s supporters, while others on the left don red merchandise bearing the CBF emblem or communist symbols. Lula recently urged Brazilians to embrace the traditional yellow and green during the World Cup to prevent the colors from being co-opted by what he termed “fascist” elements.
As Brazil advances in the tournament, the colors worn on the field have become a proxy battleground for competing political narratives in a football-obsessed nation.