Coach Dorival Júnior announced, this Friday afternoon (1) at the CBF headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro, the list of players called up to defend the Brazilian team in the matches against Venezuela and Uruguay in the World Cup qualifiers. 2026. And one of the highlights of the list was the absence of striker Neymar, who plays for Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia).
“We are all very attentive to the evolution [de Neymar]. He has practically recovered [da cirurgia no joelho esquerdo]but it only took a few minutes [em campo pelo Al-Hilal]which weighed a lot. He was willing to be here. I would really like to be related, but he also understood the situation, the condition he is in, the lack of minutes on the field and the demands that we would all make with him on the bench or on the field”, declared the Brazilian commander.
Among those remembered are three players who have stood out in Brazilian football, Estêvão, from Palmeiras, and Igor Jesus and Luiz Henrique, both from Botafogo. The one who ended up absent was young Endrick, from Real Madrid (Spain).
Another prominent theme of the press conference was the coach’s criticism of the Ballon d’Or result, the award given by the French magazine France Football, which had the Spaniard Rodri, from Manchester United (England), as champion, and the Brazilian Vinicius Júnior, from the Real Madrid (Spain), in second place. According to Dorival Júnior, an injustice was committed.
“In my opinion, it is an unfair situation. It is an individual award. If there was a decisive, acute, lethal athlete, whose talent was shown to the whole world, I believe it was him [Vini Júnior]in season. Nothing against whoever won the prize, [o Rodri] He is a great athlete in world and Spanish football, he stood out a lot. But Vinicius, for the work he did, deserved different recognition”, stated the Brazilian commander.
Upcoming games
The 23 players called up will represent the Canarian national team on November 14th, when Brazil faces Venezuela at the Monumental stadium in Maturin, and on the 19th, in a confrontation with Uruguay at Arena Fonte Nova, in Salvador.
List of those called up:
Goalkeepers: Bento – Al-Nassr, Ederson – Manchester City and Weverton – Palmeiras.
Sides: Danilo – Juventus, Vanderson – Monaco, Guilherme Arana – Atlético-MG and Abner – Lyon.
Defenders: Éder Militão – Real Madrid, Gabriel Magalhães – Arsenal, Marquinhos – PSG and Murilo – Nottingham Forest.
Midfielders: André – Wolverhampton, Andreas Pereira – Fulham, Bruno Guimarães – Newcastle, Gerson – Flamengo, Lucas Paquetá – West Ham, Rodrygo – Real Madrid.
Attackers: Estevão – Palmeiras, Raphinha – Barcelona, Luiz Henrique – Botafogo, Igor Jesus – Botafogo, Savinho – Manchester City and Vinicius Júnior – Real Madrid.
