Brazil faces India for the first time in history in a friendly in India

The Brazilian team takes the field for the first time in history against India, in a friendly scheduled for 11 am (Brasília time). The match will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium, in Calcutta, just over two hours from Bangladesh, a country that, alongside the Indians, has one of the biggest hopscotch fans outside of Brazil.

At the 2026 World Cup, several videos of Indians and Bangladeshis went viral for showing how they cheered when Carlo Ancelotti's team took the field.

This historical connection in the region began in the 1970 World Cup, with Brazil's third world championship title. "People didn't have TVs at that time. They found out about it from the newspapers," says Pratap Hazra, who was a player for the Bangladesh national team during that period.

At the time, Bangladesh was fighting for its liberation and independence to stop being East Pakistan, feeling marginalized by the central government based in Islamabad.

"Pelé became a football god in Bangladesh", says Hazra, when describing the impact of the black player lifting the Jules Rimet trophy for a people seeking emancipation. The country established itself as a supporter of Brazilian football and, a year later, gained its independence.

The new president of Bangladesh ordered that Pelé's biography, written by Mário Filho, be translated and included as mandatory reading in schools.

Rivalry and Argentina's advancement

Although cricket is the most famous sport in Bangladesh and India and the region's football leagues are not as significant, foreign flags dominate the facades every four years. The country is divided mainly between support for Brazil and Argentina.

"And there's a name that explains it: Maradona", says Hazra.

Argentina's entry into the local scene occurred in the 1986 World Cup. That year, Diego Maradona's performance against England — in the match marked by the goal known as "The Hand of God" — generated immediate identification among the local population.

The Bengalis, who were part of the former British colony until the independence process led by Mahatma Gandhi, saw the Argentine sporting triumph as a kind of historic revenge against the former colonizers.

The current preference points to a generational divide in the country. "My father and my older brother are fans of Brazil. But younger people today support Argentina because of Messi. And we also wish the best for Neymar, but he is always injured", reports journalist Shinul Parviz.

Traders in Dhaka, the Bengali capital, pointed out that, during this year's World Cup, the Argentine team's shirts represented 60% of World Cup uniform sales, while Brazil's shirts accounted for 40%.

Brazil x India: where and when to watch

Date: Saturday, October 3rd

Time: 11am (Brasília time)

Venue: Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium (Salt Lake Stadium), Kolkata, India

Where to watch: TV Globo, SporTV and GeTV

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