BTS member Jungkook has become the center of a playful football fandom war in Brazil, after picking Cruzeiro’s blue jersey as his favorite during a CazeTV special, a choice that set supporters of rival clubs Flamengo, Cruzeiro and Corinthians debating which team can claim him.
Star News reported on November 9 that Jungkook made the pick during BTS’s appearance on CazeTV, Brazil’s digital sports broadcast channel, for a special interview and cultural experience segment. When CazeTV asked on its official social media whether Jungkook was a Flamengo or Cruzeiro fan, Cruzeiro supporters pointed to his blue-uniform choice as proof, while Flamengo fans countered that the “ombrinho” shoulder dance he performed on stage was the signature move of Flamengo star Lucas Paqueta. Corinthians fans joined in with a composite image of a uniform noting that Jungkook’s birthday, September 1, matches the club’s founding date.
The football crossover kept growing online. Prime Video Sport Brasil’s official account shared a Jungkook banner displayed at the Raposa festival, Cruzeiro’s celebration, and wrote, “ARMY, pay attention! Jungkook is also a Cabuloso fan! At this point, shouldn’t we summon Jungkook to the Mineirao stadium?” Local fans have even taken to calling Jungkook “pe-quente,” a lucky charm, as the clips spread.
The CazeTV appearance itself was packed with lighthearted moments. Jungkook played Korean traditional games with the hosts, folding the Brazilian female host’s ddakji so it would flip properly after she struggled, then flipping his own in a single try and showing off his jegichagi skills, earning a thumbs-up from the male host. After the broadcast, Jungkook’s new campaign with GRAFF pushed both the singer and the brand onto X’s real-time trends in major countries, with his hashtag topping the global and entertainment trend lists, and his Calvin Klein holiday campaign was also unveiled through official social media.
The viral moment capped BTS’s South America leg of the “ARIRANG” world tour, which closed with three shows at Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo on October 28, 30 and 31, the group’s first concerts in Brazil in seven years, drawing about 84,000 fans per night. For the finale, the members took the stage in Brazil national team jerseys before performing “Butter” and “Dynamite,” with Jin wearing a cocar, the traditional feathered headdress of Brazil’s Indigenous peoples, while Jungkook unbuttoned his shirt during the final show, a moment Billboard Brazil covered and Brazilian outlet Hugo Gloss greeted with an emphatic “OMG.” Jungkook also wore a jersey carrying the autograph of Brazilian football legend Kaka.
The Brazil stop followed the same local-tribute pattern across the leg: ponchos in Peru, traditional shepherd outfits in Chile, and Argentina national team jerseys bearing Lionel Messi’s No. 10 in Buenos Aires, where the group also performed “Dreamers,” the song Jungkook sang at the opening of the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Earlier in the leg, Jungkook topped X’s real-time trends in Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Chile at the same time, driven by the Messi jersey moment. The approach turned each tour stop into a locally tailored moment, and in Brazil it collided with the country’s club football rivalries in a way no other stop did.
With the South America leg behind them, BTS heads next to Kaohsiung National Stadium in Taiwan, with shows on November 19 and November 21 and 22. Whether Jungkook leans into the Cruzeiro claim or stays neutral, Brazilian fans have already made the jersey debate one of the tour’s most talked-about souvenirs.
