With less than a year to go until the FIFA World Cup 2026, Brahma continues its long-term platform Tá Liberado Acreditar (“Let Yourself Believe”), using a moment in which Brazilian football exists somewhere between public skepticism and nostalgia for the era when the national team dominated the global stage.
The new campaign, developed in collaboration with Africa Creative, does not attempt to ignore the reality surrounding the national team. On the contrary, the entire communication is built precisely around the fact that, for the first time in a long while, Brazil is not entering the tournament as a leading favorite. After 24 years without a world title, a short cycle with a new coach, and growing distrust among fans, the campaign uses a sense of collective doubt as its central creative framework.
According to research by Genial/Quaest, only 28 percent of Brazilians believe the national team can win a sixth World Cup title. That figure becomes the foundation of the communication strategy: a reminder that Brazil historically created its greatest moments precisely when expectations were against it.
Filmed in Rio de Janeiro, the film relies on the aesthetics of the 1990s and early 2000s, the period in which Brazil solidified its status as a global football powerhouse. The visual identity uses the so-called “Brazilcore” style, a combination of street culture, yellow jerseys, improvised football and nostalgia that has in recent years become a globally recognizable internet and fashion trend.
The narrative follows a skeptical fan who rediscovers belief in the national team through an improvised street football match. Throughout the film, legendary moments from previous World Cups are recreated, including iconic dribbles, unpredictable plays and improvisation that for decades formed part of the identity of Brazilian football. Scenes inspired by street football aesthetics are combined with authentic archival footage from historic matches, further emphasizing the idea that Brazilian football has always been built on creativity, spontaneity and emotional energy.
The campaign does not attempt to speak only about sport. In a broader sense, it is an attempt to reaffirm Brazilian identity through culture, music and collective memory. The soundtrack uses the song “Tamanco no Samba” by legendary Cauby Peixoto, further strengthening the nostalgic atmosphere of the film.
Additional weight is given to the campaign through appearances by Ronaldo Nazário and Carlo Ancelotti. At the end of the film, Ancelotti performs the “Tá Liberado Acreditar” gesture, a reinterpretation of the famous “number one” sign that Ronaldo used in historic Brahma campaigns during the period of the Brazilian national team’s greatest dominance.
As Nicholas Bergantin, co-CCO of Africa Creative, explains, the campaign starts from the idea that Brazilian football could never be explained solely through statistics and probabilities. “Brazilian football has always had something that numbers cannot explain. We grow in the improbable, transform pressure into creativity, and find unique ways to surprise. This film is born precisely from this provocation: to remember that the mystique of Brazilian football was built when nobody believed.” said Bergantin.
From a communication perspective, the campaign shows how sports marketing ahead of major tournaments is functioning less and less through classic patriotism and expected victory narratives, and increasingly through emotional codes of nostalgia, cultural identity and a shared sense of belonging. That is precisely why Brahma is not trying to sell Brazil as a favorite, but as an idea worth believing in again.
