The pope’s message to Brazilians: It will happen another time

Croatia face France in Moscow on Sunday attempting to win their first World Cup while Didier Deschamps' side are aiming to land their second title two decades on from their triumph on home soil.

France, who are clear favourites to triumph in the Luzhniki Stadium, will also be spurred on by the bitter disappointment of losing the Euro 2016 final to Portugal in Paris.

It is a final few people anticipated when football's global showpiece kicked off four weeks ago.

Croatia have brought joy to their Balkan nation of just four million people by defying the odds to progress to the final while reigning champions Germany, then Argentina and Brazil all fell by the wayside in Russia.

They have been inspired by mercurial midfielder Luka Modric while coach Zlatko Dalic, who only took over last year with the squad in chaos, has coaxed remarkable performances from his team.

Deschamps would become only the third man to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager -- he was captain when France lifted the World Cup in 1998.

His France side, spearheaded by 19-year-old forward Kylian Mbappe and the more seasoned Antoine Griezmann, are the favourites.

Paul Pogba has finally become a leader in midfield for France and N'Golo Kante has excelled in doing the tireless work that allows his teammates to shine, while Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane are the nucleus of a solid defence.

Les Bleus laboured through their group, beating Australia and Peru by the odd goal and drawing with Denmark in the only goalless game of the tournament.

Then they hit form, sweeping aside Argentina in a match which announced to the world that Mbappe is set to be an international superstar as he scored twice and outshone Lionel Messi.

But apart from that 4-3 win, France have played like a Deschamps side, with the emphasis on defence.

Brazil is burning.

From the Amazon rainforest to the Pantanal wetlands, flames have consumed millions of hectares of forest and farmland in recent weeks.

Nearly two-thirds of Latin America's biggest country is under smoke.

While fueled by extreme drought, which the government says serves as "a demonstration of the gravity of climate change," many of the fires were set by "criminals," in the words of environment minister Marina Silva.

Here is what we know about Brazil's "fire pandemic," as Supreme Court judge Flavio Dino has described the state of affairs.

What is the extent?

According to data collected by satellites of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), a total of 188,623 fires have been identified in Brazil since the beginning of the year.

The total number for last year was 189,926.

The month of September 2024 has been the worst so far, with 61,572 fires recorded in 17 days compared to 46,498 for the whole of September 2023.

The number of blazes in the Amazon this month are already much higher than in 2019, when destruction of the world's largest tropical rain forest sparked an international outcry that placed then president Jair Bolsonaro on the back foot.

The figures for 2024 are still far from the record of 393,915 fires recorded in 2007 -- more than a third in September that year alone.

But this time, "fires are burning in several regions of the country at the same time, which makes the problem more complex to manage," said Ane Alencar, scientific director of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM).

What are the causes?

Brazil has been experiencing a prolonged drought since June 2023, according to Suely Araujo, public policy coordinator for Brazil's Climate Observatory -- a collective of non-governmental organizations.

Whatever rain did fall was "less than expected," resulting in dry conditions that can turn the slightest spark into a blaze.

"Climate change is at play, coupled with the El Nino phenomenon," said Araujo.

Alencar said most of the fires were deliberately set, most commonly by farmers clearing land.

Farmers can obtain government permission for such burning, but the practice has been temporarily banned because the fires can easily get out of control under current conditions.

However, "it is probably the law that is least respected in Brazil," Alencar told AFP.

Another culprit is the massive and influential agro-industry sector, which Alencar says has been found to deliberately set fire to public forests to clear land for farmers.

A third cause is more difficult to pinpoint: individual arsonists whose only motive is to "sow chaos," according to federal police chief Humberto Freire.

What is the outlook?

INPE researcher Karla Longo said that if the fire starters are not stopped, the blazes "will continue until it rains."

The drought that has Brazil in its grips is likely to last until October, she added.

"The rainy season is supposed to start in the second half of October... but it may be delayed due to extreme dryness and low atmospheric humidity," added Ricardo de Camargo, a professor of meteorology at the University of Sao Paulo (USP).

Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has vowed to combat climate change and pledged to stop illegal deforestation of the Amazon by 2030, conceded on Tuesday that Brazil was "not 100 percent prepared" to deal with the latest wave of fires as he announced $94 million for the response.

"The authorities should do more, at all levels," said Araujo, who led the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, a federal agency, from 2016 to 2019.

She called for closer coordination between ministries, as well as between national and state governments.

Freire has called for tougher penalties for "environmental crimes."

Brazil's decision to ban X, formerly known as Twitter, has triggered a surge in users for Bluesky, a growing social media platform. Following a ruling by Brazil's Supreme Court, Bluesky reported gaining one million new users in just three days. Bluesky was first announced as a Twitter-backed project in 2019 to develop an open, decentralised social protocol.

Earlier on August 31, Bluesky shared that it was experiencing "all-time-highs for activity on Bluesky" and quickly topped the free iPhone app chart in Brazil, surpassing Meta's Threads, which ranked second. While the platform was initially launched in 2021, it only fully opened to the public in February 2024. The platform reached over 6 million users by May 2024.

In the midst of this showdown, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva appeared to bid farewell to his followers on X, encouraging them to follow him on other platforms with Bluesky leading the list.

Real Madrid defender Eder Militao will miss Brazil's World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru this month due to a thigh injury, the Brazilian FA (CBF) said.

Real's Militao, who also missed last month's international fixtures with a leg injury, had travelled to Sao Paulo after featuring as a late substitute in Real's 2-0 win over Villarreal on Saturday.

"He underwent tests this Sunday... which revealed a minor muscle injury in his left thigh that will prevent him from playing," the CBF said in a statement.

Flamengo's Fabricio Bruno has been called up to replace Militao, the statement added.

Brazil are fifth in South America's World Cup qualifiers with 10 points from eight matches, with the top six set to directly qualify.

Belgium finished third in the World Cup, their best-ever performance, when they beat England 2-0 with an early Thomas Meunier goal and a breakaway finished by Eden Hazard in Saturday's playoff between the losing semi-finalists.

Meunier finished off a devastating move when he turned in Nacer Chadli's low cross at the far post in the fourth minute after Romelu Lukaku's pass sliced open the English defence.

Belgium, who beat England 1-0 in a group match in the tournament, were more dangerous throughout a lively first half. But England improved after the break and nearly equalised when Eric Dier got clear and chipped over Thibaut Courtois, only for Toby Alderweireld to make a sliding clearance off the line.

Belgium continued to threaten on the break and finished off the game when Kevin de Bruyne set Hazard clear and he swept his shot past Jordan Pickford.