Members of the Brazilian national soccer team have been caught on camera trying not to laugh while being subjected to a “welcome to country” humiliation ritual after arriving in Australia.
Footage of the ceremony, which was invented in the 1970s and is deeply unpopular among everyday Australians, showed several of the South American athletes struggling to hide their amusement during the performance, but others watched solemnly and clapped at the end.
The ceremony, which involved aboriginals in body paint dancing in a circle around a smouldering pile of leaves, was held in Townsville ahead of a friendly match set to be played between Brazil and Australia in the Far North Queensland city on Friday night.
The Brazilian national football team receiving a Welcome to Country in Australia pretty much sums up how detached from reality this country has become. We’re becoming an international laughing stock. Have a look at their faces. pic.twitter.com/fmkuUkEIot
— AussieLoyalist (@LoyalistAussie) September 24, 2026
The video went viral in Brazil, with some social media commenters saying they sympathised with the players and would have laughed also, while others said they thought the team should have been training instead.
Australians also showed their support for the Brazilian players on X, where the clip was shared by AussieLoyalist with the caption: “The Brazilian national football team receiving a Welcome to Country in Australia pretty much sums up how detached from reality this country has become.
“We’re becoming an international laughing stock. Have a look at their faces.”
“Ernie Dingo must be proud of his little nonsense activity,” another Aussies responded, referring to the aboriginal actor who popularised the ceremony with a 1976 performance.
“Before the Juventus v Inter Milan exhibition match in Perth, a number of the Italian players were chuckling during the WTC,” another said.
“Everyone laughs at ‘welcome to country’ rituals. America got over this years ago: ‘we acknowledge stolen land’. ‘From which tribe? That tribe slaughtered the precious tribe which previously slaughtered the tribe before.’ Keep pulling at this thread, it’s a farce,” said a third.
The term “welcome to country” was coined by indigenous activist Rhonda Roberts, who died in March this year, and the performances have since become ubiquitous at sporting and political events, even though seven out of 10 Australians want them stopped completely.
Their inclusion during Anzac Day dawn services has also sparked backlash and caused boos to ring out during the last two years in a row, resulting in several men being charged and convicted.
In June this year, nationalist activists Jacob Hersant, Michael Nelson, Nathan Bull and Ian Lomax were all found guilty of offensive behaviour for booing professional aboriginal Mark Brown during a performance in Melbourne in 2025, and were fined between $1,900 and $800.
A day earlier another man was convicted and fined $880 for booing a “welcome to country” at Sydney’s Anzac Day Dawn Service this year.
Header image: The “welcome to country” in Townsville (Instagram).
