If you’re keeping track of this stuff, Vozinha’s Instagram following has now grown to 16.8 million.
One of the tournament’s most unlikely stars was once again one of the big draws at this game: In the stands more than one group of fans brought with them a set of large placards made entirely of his face; a young boy held up a sign with “In Vozinha we trust” on one side, and the ubiquitous request “Can I have your shirt?” on the other; a group of shirtless young men had “V-O-Z-I-N-H-A” painted on their bare torsos.
His mother was in the crowd again, making the most of her newly-issued visa after apparent admin issues had forced her to miss the 0-0 draw with Spain, the game that made her son famous.
A few days earlier, when Portugal played in this stadium, the crowd would go wild every time Cristiano Ronaldo touched the ball or appeared on the big screen: In this game, it was Vozinha.
Which is all pretty remarkable for a guy who only turned professional at the age of 26, who played last season in the Portuguese second tier, and who very nearly retired from international football after being dropped from their last, unsuccessful AFCON qualifying campaign.
Who knows what he will do after this tournament. But he’ll remember the summer of 2026 forever.
