A white, 20-something man, sporting a blue puffer jacket, tight jeans and carbon-grey rectangular sunglasses flaunts a large disc to the camera with a beaming smile: “Woke Zero,” the disc reads. “Woke” on the disc is inscribed with a red flourish in the classic Coca-Cola font. Just to the right, outside a conference-centre room, is a towering sign: “Let’s drain the swamp! WOKEBUSTERS.”

For those able to gain entry to the conference room, a who’s who of the anti-globalist elite await. Figures such as the far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders and Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of the former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro, are here delivering talks with titles such as Save the West, Protect the Borders.

Obtaining admission to such an event is not easy. For press, only those the organisers label “the real media” are invited. Those from organisations such as CNN are not permitted. Instead they are sent rejection emails stating the venue is a “NO WOKE ZONE”.

The scene is reminiscent of a Republican party rally in the United States – Donald Trump sent a personal welcome video – yet the majority of the voices here aren’t American: they are Hungarian. That’s because this is the setting of the third edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Hungary – CPACHungary 2024.

Over the past 14 years Hungary has become a centre for this type of nativist hive mind. The prime minister, Viktor Orban, whose speech opened CPACHungary 2024, has moulded the country into a hierogram for far-right figures to venerate. In Hungary, ethnic homogeneity is often at the top of the agenda. Orban weaves a political narrative that states Hungary must only be for white Christians. “Multiculturalism means the coexistence of Islam, Asian religions and Christianity. We will do everything to spare Hungary from that,” he said in 2015. “We are not a mixed race … and we do not want to become a mixed race,” he reiterated in 2022.

Yet, like most far-right populists, his discriminatory dogma has room for flexibility when it serves another political agenda. Take the “residency bond” launched in 2013 that foreign nationals could buy for €250,000. This bond attracted so many Chinese business people that Hungary is now home to the largest Chinese community in the central and eastern European region. After all, Orban isn’t anti-migrant – he’s anti-the-wrong-type-of-migrant. This is clear in sport, where the anti-migration rules are even more arbitrary.

In 2015, during the height of the migration crisis, when Orban spoke about keeping Europe safe from the “Muslim invaders”, not everyone was turned away. David Savarimanesh, from Iran, was, for instance, allowed to stay and in 2020 received Hungarian citizenship, thanks to his fine wrestling credentials.

Another wrestler, the Dagestan-born Ismail Musukaev, received Hungarian citizenship in 2019 when Russia were banned from Olympic competition. He represented Hungary at the 2020 Olympics alongside their flag carrier at the opening ceremony, Aida Mohamed, the daughter of a Syrian immigrant.

The kind of civic nationalism where anyone can become a Hungarian citizen may seem strange when contrasted with the ethnic nationalism rhetoric of Orban and his government. But that’s only one part of the paradox, because within the nation, the vast majority of the populace welcome these athletes with open arms.

Take Marco Rossi, who will be leading Hungary at Euro 2024, where they kick off their campaign against Switzerland on Saturday. The Italian coach is immensely popular within Hungary and calls the country his second home. Under his stewardship, the national team have evolved from misfits to potential outsiders in Germany. His adored team wouldn’t be where they are without the government’s integrationism.

“A big proportion of the squad is based on foreign-developed players,” says Janos Kele, football correspondent and podcast host at 24.hu. “This kind of globalised spirit and the effects are mostly [thanks to] the German and the Austrian development programmes. Dominik Szoboszlai is a Red Bull-project player, Peter Gulacsi went to England at 17 and joined Salzburg at 23, Attila Szalai trained in Austria between 14 and 19, Roland Sallai left Hungarian football when he was 18.

“Some of them are also products of a foreign country’s youth development system, like Loïc Négo, Willi Orban, Callum Styles and Marton Dardai. These are key factors behind Hungary having highly skilled, tactically and technically gifted players.”

Willi Orban, who is arguably Hungary’s most important player, was born in Germany. Styles and Nego, two first-team regulars, were born in England and France. None of the three speak Hungarian (helpfully, the language in the dressing room is English). In recent years, players born in Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa have all featured for the national team.

Naturalising players from the Hungarian top division (a league where more than half the players are foreign) and finding players overseas with Hungarian heritage are key parts of the country’s football strategy. When a person can be used to gain extensive global exposure for Hungary, the government sees an opportunity.

“These tactics can successfully invigorate Hungarians’ pride and nationalism,” explains Johanna Mellis, assistant professor of history at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania.

“Hungary has such a strong sporting history and many Hungarians have a willingness to accept sport success as evidence of the nation’s greatness on at least one world stage. Therefore, it is not a surprise that [Viktor] Orban continues to enlist the Hungarian football community.”

It’s a tactic that has worked to great success. Hungary qualified for Euro 2024 by winning their group. They have lost just two of their past 20 games, and have recorded away wins against Germany and England.

On the afternoon of the first day of CPACHungary 2024, a panel discussion took place entitled Sovereignty Lives, Globalism Dies. The discussion, which featured speakers from Belgium, the US and Israel, went into depth about the threat of multiculturalism to the fabric of western societies. The argument went that it undermines national unity and hinders social integration, stifling progress and growth. It creates barriers to cohesion and generates fragmentation.

It is an argument that will fall rather flat when a multicultural Hungary team, one who haven’t lost a competitive game since September 2022, kick off at the Euros.

• This article was amended on 17 June 2024. An earlier version said that Hungary qualified for Euro 2024 “by winning their group for the first time in European Championship history”; in fact they also won their qualifying group in 1972.