How all this will go down in Brazil remains to be seen. Recent protests suggest that not all the locals will be getting their footballs and flip-flops out in preparation for the megaparty. But there’s another interesting aspect of the 2014 World Cup, which is the non-white ethnicities that populate Brazil’s main cities. There is racism in Brazil – the favelas are a grim symbol of social division – but there is an instinctive tolerance of other cultures and a general respect for foreign visitors that will make the overall mood inclusive and very internationalist.