FIFA World Cup 2018: How India is gearing up for the mega-event

Jun 11, 2018 13:50 IST

Kite-makers make kites with pictures of the national flags of the countries participating in the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia, at a workshop in Kolkata, India. (REUTERS)

A boy plays in front an image of Brazil's Neymar painted on a wall in an alley. (REUTERS)

A hand-rickshaw puller moves past a wall painted with graffiti of Brazilian football players Neymar and Marcelo. (HT PHOTO)

A painter applies finishing touches to an image of Neymar on a large Brazilian flag on a road side wall. (REUTERS)

Boys sit on pipes in front of an image of Neymar painted on a wall along a road. (REUTERS)

A painter applies finishing touches to an image of Brazil's Marcelo. (REUTERS)

Fans hang a large flag from a residential building next to a banner featuring Argentina's Lionel Messi. (REUTERS)

A boy paints a wall with the colours of Argentina's flag next to a man giving finishing touches to a cut-out of soccer player Lionel Messi. (REUTERS)

A painter applies finishing touches to an image of Lionel Messi. (REUTERS)

about the gallery

Fans of those countries who are participating in the FIFA World Cup 2018 are gearing up to cheer their team through the summer. However, India too is preparing to cheer on their favourite teams and players. Given the fact that India have never made it to the World Cup, fans often adopt another country that they call their own for the course of the tournament. Two perennial favourites are Lionel Messi’s Argentina and the Neymar-led Brazil, with both sides finding plenty of love from the Indian public. This love often manifests itself through paintings of the players on walls in the streets, often alongside their national flags.