The CL finalists arrived in New Jersey tonight: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/copa-d...nelli-chegam-aos-eua-para-copa-do-mundo.ghtml
Brazil landed this morning. There is training scheduled at 5pm local time (Eastern US) today. https://ge.globo.com/futebol/copa-d...tem-grupo-completo-para-a-copa-do-mundo.ghtml Not clear if this one will have the usual 15 minutes open to the press or not as it's almost certainly not going to be a full training session.
Also, for those who are curious, the uniforms for group matches have been decided already: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/copa-d...uniforme-azul-sera-usado-contra-o-haiti.ghtml vs. Morocco Brazil will wear the traditional yellow shirt, blue shorts, white socks vs. Haiti Brazil will wear the blue shirt and blue shorts with black socks (that's the current away uniform) vs. Scotland Brazil will wear the yellow shirt, white shorts and white socks
I opened a thread for other teams and results, including news like de Arrascaeta's injury today: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/copa-do-mundo-2026-other-teams-and-news-thread.2138951/
Even though training was not open to the press today, CBF did stream 15 minutes, if you're interested:
O Globo (the main paper, not ge) has an article about the national team's plans for keeping the players focused and happy, including a code of conduct and what the location is like: https://oglobo.globo.com/esportes/c...zes-mas-focados-durante-a-copa-do-mundo.ghtml
Marquinhos and Igor Thiago are the players in today's press conference: https://www.youtube.com/live/1MKWWe_pOcU Training will also be open to some fans today, as FIFA mandates a community day training session during this period. Not sure if the networks will get to cover the whole thing or just the usual 15 minutes.
ESPN Brasil covered today's training and it was the full hour today: The big news is that this line-up was tested: Alisson; Wesley, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Douglas Santos; Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães, Paquetá; Raphinha, Igor Thiago, Vini Jr. So this is, for now, the expected starting line-up this Saturday. But maybe it's just a test for the second half, or maybe even something for the fans since today was basically a day for the fans to watch the training.
I loved Endrick's reaction, he just jumped up and kept running. He has an elite mentality. If he keeps this up, he will achieve great things.
Today's training was only open to the press for the usual 15 minutes: The line-up they got to see was different: Alisson; Wesley, Marquinhos, Leo Perreira, Douglas Santos; Bruno Guimarães; Rayan, Igor Thiago, Vini Jr., Raphinha The press conference today was with Wesley and Fabinho:
Today's press conference is with Ancelotti, as is traditional before the match. Also, Brazil and Egypt have agreed to up to 11 subs in the friendly. However, that doesn't necessarily mean he will make all subs at the half like he did last time. I'm sure that will be a question for the press conference. Press conference is live. If you watch the video later, advance to about 1 hour in. You can also find it on CBF TV
Training starts soon, it's this morning, unlike earlier this week. Some important notes from the press conference: Neymar will have an MRI tomorrow (correction: Monday, not tomorrow like Ancelotti said), if he progressed well he will be in training this week. Gabriel will not play tomorrow due to tiredness. Weverton will be the 2nd half goalkeeper. He will use as many subs as he can, but not all at half time. Players who recently returned from injury may play more minutes: Raphinha, Bruno Guimarães. Lucas Paquetá and Igor Thiago will probably start.
Well, two big days coming up Tomorrow Wesley will be evaluated and get an MRI. Monday, Neymar will get an MRI and be evaluated. They don't want to cut anyone if they can avoid it. I understand the "trauma" argument, and you can see it in everyone's reaction to Wesley's injury today. I wish we handled that stuff better. If Wesley is cut, the straightforward replacement is Vitinho, but I could see them bringing in a central defender. I could also see them bringing in a midfielder, now that 3 in the middle is likely to see more minutes. We'll just have to wait and see. The team will be back in New Jersey tomorrow. Not sure what the plan is, but maybe a day off, maybe just a morning off and light training in the afternoon. After that it's 5 days of training, Monday to Friday, before the match on Saturday. No travel since the match is in New Jersey.
Wesley is out, Ederson, the midfielder, is in: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/copa-d...-da-selecao-por-lesao-na-perna-esquerda.ghtml
This feels like Carlo realizing taking only 5 mids was a mistake. Or Ederson can play RB ? Or I guess Ibanez can play RB.
I was thinking the same about the midfielders. Can Ederson play right back? Has he ever played that position in his career?
Ibanez will be the starting right-back probably. Danilo backup. And in case of emergency I suppose Marquinhos and Fabinho could fill in. The problem is if we have a situation like the Croatia match last time. We had only 1 fullback available out of 4. Dani Alves was deemed not good enough to play vs Croatia. The 2 left backs were injured. So Danilon started at left back and Militao started at right back. But that amount of problems in the same position would be an issue no matter what. You cant have infinite backups.
Wesley is a lost. I saw him as someone having a possible breakout tournament. I think Marquinhos should go to right back and Bremer and Gabriel should be he CB pairing with A. Sandro on the left that a solid back 4 defensively.
Neymar's MRI results: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/copa-do-mundo/noticia/2026/06/08/neymar-passa-por-exames.ghtml Predictably not much to say. No indication on whether he really will return to training this week or not, but that was the plan according to Ancelotti's press conference after the Saturday match.
Norway vs Morocco was an interesting match. Morocco was superior to Norway in every way. Haaland barely touched the ball. Norway tied the game only after a bunch of substitutes in the second half. Morocco lost a couple of guys to injury.
It would seem that not providing specifics isn't a good thing. If Neymar ends up not playing, Ancelotti will have burned 2 spots with players who are there to be leaders in the locker room.
I genuinely think under the national team staff he could recover and be on the bench but I don't expect him to contribute and would be surprised if he doesn't get reinjured. And of course I would not be surprised if he just doesn't recover at all, since he has generally been slow to do so. I imagine they can put him on the bench and just not use him, of course, just to say he's available. But if he's not declared fit to play by the knockout stages, I think that's when the press will change their tone and start questioning the choice.