Before the ball rolled, the script seemed predictable: European clubs would dominate the new Club World Cup, while Latin Americans would figure.
Some South Americans like Flamengo and Palmeiras could advance to the Wednesdays. Boca Juniors, with his heavy shirt, would bring mystical – but little football. And the rest of the continent? Passionate, yes. Competitive, no. This was the dominant expectation in analysis, rankings and round tables: Latin America played a supporting role in a tournament designed to confirm the European protagonism.
In more than 100,000 groups of real -time monitors by countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Mexico, messages about the World Cup have grown 1,000% since the beginning of the competition.
Flamengo, Boca, Botafogo, River and Palmeiras lead the volume of mentions, even surpassing European giants such as Chelsea, PSG and Bayern. In groups monitored throughout the continent, the World Cup not only appears as a tournament. For thousands of fans, it represents a moment when South Americans can challenge European favoritism not only with talent, but with history and pride.
Internal rivalries seem to lose strength when the opponent comes from outside. In the groups analyzed, Flamengo and River fans celebrated, and Palmeirenses vibrated with the unthinkable groups in other contexts. The feeling that emerges is that of “us against them” that transcends clubs: on the one hand, South America, passionate, underestimated, collective; On the other, Europe, rich, technical and distant. The dispute is no longer just between teams and becomes between ways of living and feeling football.
Expressions such as “the guys saying that Botafogo was going to take a lot, these gringo egg drool” or “to cheer for European never” repeat themselves in different contexts. In many groups, Flamengo’s victory over Chelsea was not only read as a sports achievement, but activated regional affirmation speeches, opposing the Brazilian club to European economic and technical power. The same goes for Botafogo, who defeated PSG, the current Champions League champion. The victory was celebrated as the triumph of the claw on investment, daring on the machine.
These readings are no exceptions. The World Cup, as shown by the monitoring of Palver, catalyzes a diffuse feeling that, although it may be subjective, is recurring: that football can correct historical asymmetries. The logic is simple – if they do not respect us in the negotiating tables, which respect us at least in the lawns.
Even when they lose, fans do not abandon the narrative. Following Boca’s defeat to Bayern, in Xeneizes groups, messages circulated, “Quedó demonstrated that we are great.” Dignity is not measured in titles, but in posture. With each beaten corner kick, there are those who see more than one play-a political act is true.
WhatsApp becomes, in this context, a kind of symbolic arena where analyzes are shared, provocations are spread and mythology is built. It is also in it that a collective identity is affirmed: South American, popular, emotional, vibrant.
If FIFA has created this World Cup to capitalize on the globalization of football, WhatsApp monitoring shows that fans use the event to do something else: to play the place of their countries in the world’s imagination.
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