The senator and pre-candidate for the Presidency, (PL-RJ), stated this Monday (June 29, 2026) that “22 saved Brazil” after Gabriel Martinelli’s goal that guaranteed victory over the Japan team and qualification to the round of 16 of the . The attacker wears shirt 22.
In a video on social media, Flávio associated the player’s number with that of the PL (Liberal Party), the party for which he is contesting the 2026 presidential race.
Watch (16s):
The party also related the attacker’s performance to the party’s number. In a post on social media, PL wrote: “Once again, 22 saves Brazil”. Then he added: “The green and yellow heart even palpitated: this match was full of emotion, but it guaranteed our team’s victory! Could this be a sign?”.
Brazil beat Japan 2-1, in a round of 32 match played at the Houston Stadium, in Texas (United States). With the result, the team led by Carlo Ancelotti advanced to the round of 16, while the Japanese were eliminated.
The will be the winner of the clash between Ivory Coast and Norway.
Japan opened the scoring in the 29th minute of the first half, after an error when the Brazilian ball came out. Kaishu Sano scored in the right corner of goalkeeper Alisson. The equalizer came in the 2nd half, with Casemiro. The turnaround was guaranteed by Martinelli in the 51st minute, in stoppage time.
WORLD CUP
The World Cup is a private, for-profit sporting event. It is held every 4 years by FIFA. 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 CBF (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.
