Gabriel Vasconcelos thought he’d miss most of the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup while filming Peacock’s reality dating show “Love Island USA” in Fiji, but he was shockingly dumped from the villa in the June 19 episode.
Vasconcelos didn’t take the dumping too hard, mostly because his true love is the Brazilian national team and, more specifically, Vinícius Júnior. He posted an Instagram video showing him gleefully dancing in a parking lot while sporting Brazil‘s famed canarinha jersey.
“Got dumped from the villa, but at least it’s time to watch my Brazil in the World Cup now [crying-laughing emoji, Brazil flag emoji, green heart emoji, yellow emoji],” Vasconcelos wrote in the caption. “VAMOOOOOO! Te amo @vinijr”
Vasconcelos, 26, was born in Rio de Janeiro and moved to the United States in recent years when he received a scholarship to study computer science, as he explained on Peacock’s “Love Island Aftersun.”
It’s hard not to love watching Vini Jr. play. The Real Madrid star attacker has been a wizard for Brazil in the group stage of this World Cup. With four goals and an assist through three matches, Vini Jr. is in the second place behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi (five) in the Golden Boot race. France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland are tied with Vini Jr. at four goals apiece.
Most recently, Vini Jr. scored a first-half brace in Brazil’s 3-0 win over Scotland on Wednesday, June 24, to capture Group C and advance to the knockout stage.
Brazil will face the Group F runners-up — either the Netherlands, Japan, or Sweden, as of this writing — in the Round of 32 on Monday, June 29. It will be the first step in snapping a 24-year drought, as Brazil, the winningest men’s World Cup nation in history, has not won it since 2002.