Brazil World Cup 2026 team preview: Players to watch, group matches, squad

Previous World Cup appearances: 22 Best performance: winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) First appearance: 1930 (Uruguay) Top goal scorer: Ronaldo (15) Most appearances: Cafu (20) Player to watch: Vinicius Jr FIFA world ranking: 6 Brazil are the only team to have played in every World Cup and are also the tournament’s most decorated side with five titles. Yet they have now gone a full 24 years without lifting the trophy as recent disappointments have ranged from traumatic losses (7-1 at home to Germany in 2014) to damp squibs (losing to Croatia on penalties in the quarterfinals of 2022). Recommended Stories list of 4 items end of list Brazil come into this World Cup as one of the least fancied Brazilian World Cup sides of all time, but their relative underdog status could free them to make use of their still sublime talents. And they also have the great coach Carlo Ancelotti at the helm. Moreover, Brazil have happy memories of a North American World Cup, having won the 1994 title in the United States on penalties after Roberto Baggio’s famous miss for Italy. That victory also ended a 24-year drought. Ancelotti’s appointment Dorival Jr was sacked as manager after a poor qualifying campaign that saw Brazil finish fifth in the CONMEBOL table. Ancelotti replaced him as Brazil’s first permanent foreign manager last year. …