World Cup brings piece of Dakar and Quito to São Paulo

In a crowded bar on Monday afternoon, scores of Senegalese football fans decked out in the national team’s white home shirt whoop and scream every time their team advances over the halfway line, willing them to penetrate the solid Dutch defense. 

Desperate to get a result in their debut at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the spectators exchange comments and words of encouragement in French and Wolof, lamenting the absence of their injured star player Sadio Mané, but optimistic about their chances of upsetting the odds and defeating the highly favored Netherlands.

Such a scene could easily have taken place in central Dakar, but this particular World Cup congregation occurred on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in a kitsch Greek-themed shisha bar in downtown São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are over 3,000 Senagalese refugees living in Brazil, making it the largest African refugee contingent in the country. Figures from the Federal Police’s migration database measure the total legally documented diaspora from Senegal at 10,071 people, 70 percent of which are men aged 25 to 40. Roughly one-third of them live in São Paulo.

The first half of the match was a far more lively affair among the spectators than it was on the television screen, as both sides struggled to create chances. 

On the half-time whistle, the Senegalese crowd immediately streamed out of the bar and assembled on the busy sidewalk, playing traditional sabar drums and holding an impromptu dance party, hoping to give their team luck for the final 45 minutes of football.

It seemed to work, as Senegal emerged for the second half as the team in...