Internet is going crazy over Schweinsteiger’s recent tweet. People online are confused why the former German International is supporting Brazil in the 2026 FIFA World Cup match of Round of 32 between Brazil v Japan, especially after he was with the famous German team who handed Brazil team that infamous, historic 7-1 humiliation, in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Semi-Final.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is a former German footballer who played as a midfielder. He played for the German national team from 2004 to 2016 and is the Germany’s fourth-most-capped player of all time. He was in that squad who won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Following Philipp Lahm‘s international retirement, Schweinsteiger served as the captain of the German national team until he retired from international football in 2016.
Schweinsteiger was considered as one of the best players of Bayern Munich, spending 17 seasons with them, playing in exactly 500 matches across all competitions and scoring 68 goals. His honors at the club include eight Bundesliga titles, seven DFB-Pokal titles, a UEFA Champions League title, a FIFA Club World Cup title and a UEFA Super Cup title. He joined Manchester United in 2015, playing just for 18 months before he moved to Chicago Fire. He announced his retirement from playing in October 2019.
Since his retirement as a player in 2019, Schweinsteiger currently works as a football pundit and TV expert for the German public broadcasting channel ARD, where he provides coverage for every major tournament such as FIFA World Cup.
To every Brazil football fan, seeing him actively cheering for Canarinhos felt completely surreal. During the 2014 World Cup semi-final, Schweinsteiger put on a masterclass performance in midfield which led to the most humiliating defeat in Brazilian football history. And for him to publicly back his former victims (as per football language) against Japan in 2026 World Cup naturally sent shockwaves through the global football community, with fans quickly pointing out the bizarre irony of the situation.
Vamos Brazil 💪🏼 #BRAJAP #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/xCVt6T09hp
— Bastian Schweinsteiger (@BSchweinsteiger) June 29, 2026
They mocked him under the comments of the posts. Saying he is making the Brazil fans remember the 7-1 loss to Germany. While the Brazilian supporters are jokingly begging him to stop posting, stating that his presence alone brings back the ghost of Belo Horizonte. And others claim that his ‘Vamos Brazil, message is a form of passive-aggressive psychological warfare disguised as support.
Schweinsteiger has been making heavily in the headlines this tournament as a TV pundit with controversial comments. His biggest controversy was when analyzing the Ivory Coast’s games on live television, he described their style of play as “wild,” “unorthodox,” and lacking tactical discipline.
This became, when Ivory Coast manager Emerse Fae fired back hard, calling out these remarks as disappointing, tone-deaf, and culturally insensitive, a heavy issue that both the TV network and Schweinsteiger had to issue public clarifications, insisting that it was purely a football critique with zero malice intended.
But this made the internet claim that he is a racist and hates non-European teams.
But the real reason for his love for the Brazil is an interesting story. Right after Germany demolished the hosts in 2014 FIFA Semis, Schweinsteiger and his teammates didn’t mock the Brazil team or Brazil fans. They stayed calm, toned down their celebrations, and showed genuine comfort to the devastated Brazilian players. That level of respect resonated deeply with some local fans in Brazil. In fact, because of that reason many Brazilians actually ended up cheering for Germany against Argentina in that 2014 final. Twelve years later, Schweinsteiger’s support for them is just an extension of that mutual admiration. The old rivalry has turned into genuine respect.
