Asked to speak Spanish, Vini Jr. prefers Portuguese at the World Cup

Brazilian national team player Vinícius Júnior refused to answer in Spanish a question asked by a journalist after the World Cup.

After the 1-1 against the Morocco team, on Saturday (June 13, 2026), a Venezuelan reporter asked the striker a question about the team’s performance and asked him to respond in Spanish. Vini said he would only speak in Portuguese, since he is representing Brazil.

“Ah, I’m with Brazil, I’ll only speak in Portuguese”replied the Brazilian player, who plays for Real Madrid, from Spain, and usually responds in Spanish when he is representing the club.

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📹 Asked to speak Spanish, Vini Jr. prefers Portuguese at the World Cup

🇧🇷 Brazilian national team player Vinícius Júnior refused to answer in Spanish a question asked by a journalist after Brazil’s first game in the World Cup.

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— Poder Sports MKT (@sportsmktbr)

The day before the selection’s debut, Vini Jr. had already participated in another similar related episode. During an interview with journalists, the attacker interrupted a reporter who was asking a question in English and asked him to speak in Spanish.

The language change, however, was not approved by FIFA. The reporter had to ask the question in English and the Brazilian striker listened to the automatic translation through a headset provided by the entity.

FIFA PROTOCOL

FIFA’s language protocol was questioned by social media users after an interview with Morocco winger Hakimi, also on the eve of Saturday’s game (June 13).

During the player’s conversation with journalists on Friday (June 12), a Mexican TV reporter started to ask a question in Spanish, but was interrupted by a FIFA moderator, who stated that Hakimi could only answer in the previously agreed language and that questions in Spanish were not allowed.

The episode, shared on social media with the hashtag “FIFA does not allow questions in Spanish in the United States”raised questions about possible discriminatory practices on the part of the entity. However, this is the application of the official protocol adopted by the federation at the World Cup.

According to FIFA rules, only questions in English and the official languages ​​of the two teams involved in the match are allowed in pre- and post-match interviews. It is up to each national federation to send in advance the list of languages ​​it will need.

In the specific case of the match between Brazil and Morocco, the press room at MetLife Stadium, in New Jersey, was equipped to receive interpreters for English, Portuguese, Italian (requested by Brazil through Carlo Ancelotti), Arabic and French. For this reason, the question in Spanish asked to Hakimi was vetoed.

WORLD CUP

The World Cup is a private, profit-making sporting event. It is carried out every 4 years by . Teams qualify through knockouts. The technical committee and squad of each team competing in the competition are chosen by private entities.

In the case of Brazil, it is up to the (Brazilian Football Confederation) to define who the coach is and which players are “called up” (in reality, everyone is invited and whoever is interested goes; as the commercial gain from marketing is great, the athletes respond to the “call up”). The CBF is an organization governed by private law and has no connection with the federal government.

The Brazilian government has no influence on choosing the team that participates in the tournament. In other words, it is not the country that is represented in the World Cup, but a football team chosen by a private entity.