West Kingston Teen Painted for Brazil Endures Mock Funeral After Norway Ends World Cup Run

Fourteen-year-old Kevar Edwards had turned each Brazil win at the 2026 World Cup into a street celebration in West Kingston. With the Seleção’s yellow and green brushed across his bare chest, he would head victory processions through the community, dancing, chanting, and ribbing fans of other nations.

That mood shifted sharply on Sunday after Brazil fell to Norway. While supporters of rival countries staged what they called a funeral march to mark the end of Brazil’s tournament, Kevar stood apart, watching from the edges as the mockery unfolded.

“I got painted about 2:30 [p.m.] yesterday (Sunday). This is like my third time being painted because I expected my side to win the match yesterday,” he told THE STAR. Rather than join another celebration, he endured taunts from opposing fans who, he said, singled him out because of his bold support. “They came taking pictures because I was already painted, so at one point I was on a housetop. I wasn’t going to jump or anything like that even though I was sad. It was just the joke,” he said, describing how fans backing countries such as Argentina and Germany staged the parody send-off.

“Them put Brazil flag on box and fridge and dem walk the same place from Jungle to Rema to Jungle to Tivoli [that Brazil fans walked when the team beat Japan days earlier] and out to the cemetery to keep the funeral,” he said.

Norway’s 2-1 victory in Sunday’s round-of-16 match ended Brazil’s push for a sixth World Cup crown. The Seleção have not lifted the trophy since 2002. For Kevar and other local supporters, the result was unthinkable.

“We the supporters were planning a party like the last time (the Japan game). We think it would be like that where we march and bring the crowd, but we didn’t end up having a march or party,” he said.

In Denham Town, where Kevar lives, many residents gathered at the Village Cultural Yard along Race Course Lane to follow the tense fixture. With the score still level, nerves among Brazil backers grew, and Kevar stepped away from the screen. A sudden uproar drew him back, and he hoped Brazil had finally scored—only to learn Norway striker Erling Haaland had found the net in the 79th minute.

“I knew we lost from when I see we missed the first penalty. And then when I see the match close to 90 [minutes] and they scored two,” he said.

Brazil loyalty runs in the household. Kevar’s mother, hairstylist Patrice Morrison, shut herself indoors on Sunday and wept as the match slipped away. “Mi sad, mi cry tears. Mi feel it, mi never want them lose. I normally put out a TV at my shop but them did a pray for us to lose, so I decided to watch from my house,” she said, chuckling.

Morrison said Kevar has long adored Brazil and is usually full of cheer, so his spirited support did not shock her. She remembered the day he arrived home with the national colours painted on his skin after she declined to buy him a jersey. “Him did want mi buy him a jersey and because I asked him to do something in the house and he didn’t do it, I told him I am not buying it and he said OK I am going to paint it on,” she said, laughing.

Over recent weeks she had watched him lead jubilant marches after Brazil wins. On Sunday she saw a different child. “When him come in the house, him sit down, him spin, him turn like him don’t know what to do, because him sad. Him just tell me he’s going to bathe and wash off,” she said.

Morrison expects the World Cup energy across West Kingston to fade now that Brazil are out. Kevar, however, said his devotion will hold. “It’s one Brazil just the same and I am not switching, but I would want to see France win.”