For all of his success with Real Madrid, Vinícius Júnior hasn’t nearly had the same impact on the Brazilian national team.
Vini Jr. is undoubtedly one of the best players on the planet and the star of this squad, however, he has just nine goals and eight assists in 49 career games for Brazil.
The 25-year-old — a 3-time La Liga champion and 2-time Champions League winner — has a chance to change the narrative in the United States this summer.
Brazil will take on Morocco on Saturday (6 p.m. ET) to kick off their run at the World Cup at MetLife Stadium.
It’s a tough opening game for Carlo Ancelotti’s squad as they face the Atlas Lions, the surprise team of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar when they became the first African team to reach the semis. It’s a Top 10 matchup when looking at the current FIFA world rankings. Brazil checks in at No. 6, while Morocco is just one spot behind.
Vini Jr. will be looking to write his name into the proud history of Brazil soccer alongside legends like Pelé, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho and lead his nation to their sixth World Cup title. But the topic of his ability to lead this team has been under scrutiny
“If Vinícius is focused on the game, focused on his football, he is the best in the world,” defenseman Casemiro said last year. “In that way, he is the best. But that’s not easy, because he is constantly provoked.”
Brazil, led by the Italian Ancelotti (who owns a record five Champions League titles), is recognized as one of the key contenders to be crowned champions in this North American World Cup, but are currently looking up at Spain and France among oddsmakers. Brazil won its 4th World Cup title in 1994, the last time the U.S. hosted the event, with the record-breaking 5th star added to the jersey in 2002 in South Korea/Japan.
Since then Brazil has stumbled on the international stage, only reaching the semifinals once and that run ended with the shocking 7-1 defeat to the eventual champion German squad on home soil in 2014. The last two World Cups, Brazil has exited in the quarterfinal round.
Outside of handling his star, how or if Ancelotti will deploy another icon is in question.
It remains to be seen whether Neymar, 34, will have an impact on this World Cup run. The veteran of three previous World Cup campaigns, and Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 79 goals in 128 appearances for his country, has struggled to regain his world class form since tearing his ACL against Uruguay in 2023. His latest injury is a calf strain suffered last month.
“He has improved his fitness,” Ancelotti said at a news conference in Rio de Janeiro. “He will be an important player in this World Cup. He has experience in this kind of competition, the love of our group; he can create a better environment in this group. We chose Neymar not because we think he’ll be a good substitute. We chose Neymar because we believe he can help the team, whether it’s for one minute, five minutes, 90 minutes or even taking a penalty.”
But Neymar did not travel with the team for a final tuneup game last week, and remained behind in New Jersey were the Brazilians have set up base camp for this tournament.
After the tough opening test against Morocco, things get easier for Brazil in Group C play with a June 19 game against Haiti (ranked No. 83) in Philadelphia and then vs. Scotland (No. 41) on June 24 in Miami.
