Brazilian barber's 'Hexa Cut' captures World Cup fever as Brazil edge past Japan

Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time goal secured Brazil a 2-1 last-32 victory over Japan on Monday, sending Carlo Ancelotti’s side into a quarter-final tie against Erling Haaland’s Norway — and giving one Brazilian barber’s patriotic creations an even bigger audience.

In Resende, 27-year-old Washington Santos has revived his “Hexa Cut” — an intricate haircut featuring Brazil’s iconic green, yellow, blue, and white flag — for this year’s tournament. First introduced during the 2022 World Cup, when videos of his work spread rapidly online, Santos has already completed the design for around 30 customers, predominantly children and teenagers.

The process is painstaking. After a standard cut, Santos bleaches the hair to white, applies homemade stencils, and then paints the flag’s blue circle, yellow diamond, and green background by hand. He now sees roughly five customers a week requesting the design, with demand rising sharply ahead of Brazil’s matches.

“I wanted to create something different,” Santos explained of the style, which has become a local sensation among supporters eager to express confidence in the national team’s bid for a record-extending sixth World Cup title.

For customers like 27-year-old Gleizyane de Souza, who visited the barber this week, the haircut carries a weight beyond aesthetics. “We’re doing our part,” she said. “Now it’s up to the players to do theirs.”

Brazil gave their fans a nervous afternoon against Japan, falling behind in the first half before Casemiro levelled early in the second. Martinelli’s late intervention sealed the win and set up a last-eight meeting with Norway, who beat Ivory Coast 2-1 on Tuesday. Haaland scored the decisive goal for Norway and will pose a formidable threat to Brazil’s quarter-final ambitions.

Santos, who began his barbering career more than a decade ago after a friend encouraged him to take a local course, has since expanded his repertoire to include flags from other nations, spider web designs, and football club colours — but the Hexa Cut remains his signature piece whenever Brazil are in the tournament.