Which is one of the reasons that since March, and especially since Paquetá improved, pundits have speculated he might be the one to lose his spot. He started today, but he also was the only Chelsea player subbed off. He played 63 minutes today. Alisson is not back yet for Liverpool. They haven't guaranteed their Champions League spot yet, but with only two matches left now it's almost certain, so I hope they will rest him for the remainder. Preliminary lists are due before Monday. But as I said above, leaks might be less likely this time.
As long as Vini is in the team forget about going far in the WC. While playing for the NT his decision making is not good ( especially in the P-Box ) . He misses too many easy chances ...
Who can replace Andrey Santos since he is considered a direct substitute for Casemiro? Gabriel Sara (Galatasaray)?
Fabinho is the direct Casemiro substitute. The assumption by most right now is that Danilo (Botafogo) is in, therefore either one midfielder (Paquetá or Andrey) is out, or, with the injury to Estêvão, they drop to eight forwards and 6 mids. I would be ok with not taking Fabinho, at least if we had had time to try other things, but without time they decided to use Fabinho as the solution to that problem.
With most of the European matches done for this week, we have only two more weeks of matches. Endrick had an assist (corner kick) for Lyon, but they lost. I tuned in to the last ten minutes or so and they had all the possession (the other team had 10 men) but Endrick was stuck in the middle with 5 up front when they had the ball, so he wasn't really involved as much as I would have hoped. He did have a powerful shot that the keeper made a good reflex save on and a header he could have done better with. He also had a miss because he was thrown off balance after getting around his defender, but the play was called for offside on someone else. They have one match left and need to win to have a chance of playing the Champions League. Vanderson still not back for Monaco. Caio Henrique, despite playing last week, was listed as injured today and was not on the bench. Alexsandro did not play for Lille, still on the bench. CORRECTION: Alexsandro came in at the 90th minute. For PSG, Marquinhos and Beraldo played. Beraldo played in midfield. They have 3 games left, because they have an extra league match this Wednesday and the Champions League final in 3 weeks. If they don't lose the Wednesday match they will be champions in France before the final weekend. In Italy Wesley played 90 minutes again. Bremer played 90 minutes yesterday. Ederson had a goal and an assist today in an away win over Milan. They all have 2 matches left. Roma can still make the Champions League (they are currently tied with Milan for the last spot). Juventus need to make sure they stay in the Champions League spots and Atalanta has nothing to play for. And in La Liga, there are three matches left in two weeks, but Raphinha and Vini Jr. have nothing to play for as Barcelona won the title today. Raphinha got 27 minutes today. I wonder if they will get some rest or fewer minutes now. Anthony scored a great goal yesterday and Betis currently have the last Champions League place, so they will try to hold on to that. Vitor Reis plays tomorrow, in the last match of the round. They are currently only 1 point above the relegation zone.
In Saudi Arabia, 3 matches left for all the relevant players: Fabinho played today. His team is tied for 5th and that's the last Asian Champions League spot. He missed one match last week but otherwise has been playing 90 minutes each match. Ibanez's team has nothing to play for. They can't lose their spot and can't win the title. Bento's Al-Nassr are in first but need to keep winning to wrap up the title unless Al-Hilal trips up. They have only 2 league matches left, but they also have the "Champions League Two" final next Saturday. The last league match for all of them is on Wednesday, May 21.
In England, most teams have two matches left. Igor Thiago lost at Man City today. His team has a shot at the last European spot and he is 4 goals behind Haaland. Rayan has scored in three consecutive matches. His team is in 6th. They have a chance at Champions League (6th) but more realistically they have to make sure they don't lose their Europa League spot. Casemiro did not play this weekend but Matheus Cunha did. I thought the latter was going to be rested. Not sure if that's just for the next two matches or if the source was bs. They have nothing to play for as they can't lose their Champions League spot. Alisson did not play for Liverpool again. He is "close" to training with the team again according to this week's pre-match press conference. I wonder if he will play at all in the next two weeks. After last week's bicycle kick, João Pedro did not score this week. Chelsea drew with Liverpool and have a long shot at a European spot next season. Andrey, as I mentioned a few posts back, was subbed off after 60 minutes. Igor Jesus and Bruno Guimarães faced each other today and the teams drew. Both teams have nothing to play for in their last 2 matches. Gabriel played 90 minutes again for Arsenal. Their win means they stay in control of the title race in the last two matches. After that they have the CL final. Martinelli did not come in and had played less than 90 minutes in has last 4 matches. Gabriel Jesus was not on the bench. Tottenham will play tomorrow and Richarlison will probably start. They can climb a few more points away from relegation but will have to stay ahead in the last two weeks to avoid rebaixamento.
After today, players in Brazil still have 5 matches left. Copa do Brasil this week. Two league matches over the next two weekends. Two Libertadores or Sulamericana matches the next two weeks. Reminder that teams in the Libertadores/Sula do not have to release players until after the last match. Hopefully some will lock up first place and release early.
Reports says that Ancelotti has included Neymar in the list for the world cup. I have seen Neymars last match and I will definitely say that this kinda sluggish Neymar would be fully exposed vs top teams like France . Against weak teams maybe not sure.
This is the pre-list everyone will be talking about this week. Neymar was always expected to be included. Estêvão, who might not recover in time, is also expected to be included. The preliminary list was due by today to FIFA from ALL teams. It can include up to 55 names (I think the minimum is 35) and it is sent only to FIFA. Brazil's list probably includes 55 names, so that's 29 more names than the final roster can include.
You forgot Luiz Henrique from Zenit. He scored. To me the most in-form Brazil players are Endrick, Rayan and Luiz Henrique.
Yep, Luiz Henrique scored and Douglas Santos played 90 minutes. Zenit has only one more match, next Sunday. They can win the title, but they need Krasnodar to slip up today or next weekend in order to keep the lead.
globo esporte has a report on the list. Not a leak, nor anything official. As expected, Neymar is on the 55 man list, but the big news is that Estêvão won't be. https://ge.globo.com/futebol/seleca...ta-exigida-pela-fifa-para-copa-do-mundo.ghtml The article also indicates that they are considering whether to still go with 9 forwards or not, and that Andrey's form is one of the concerns that may be a deciding factor in the 5/6 mids vs/ 9/8 forwards balance.
That list spread yesterday but is not official. Here's some more detail from globo: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/seleca...-ancelotti-para-a-selecao-veja-os-nomes.ghtml Samu Lino and Leo Ortiz are on the list, according to that article. The list has not leaked yet, but there are several individual articles on globo about included players: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/selecao-brasileira/ Thiago Silva, Luciano Juba, Andreas Pereira, and a number of Flamengo players listed in the article above. Also, an article about Alisson being close to returning and Paquetá's recovery also being monitored: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/seleca...dois-meses-cbf-tambem-acompanha-paqueta.ghtml
Globo Esporte has released an article with what they report is the list This is not official, of course, but ge is the most reliable source there is besides CBF itself: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/futebo...stao-na-pre-lista-da-selecao-brasileira.ghtml EDIT: the article states they know 49 players, if they determine the last six names, I will add them to the post EDIT2: They have added 2 Paulo Henrique and Alexsandro, making it 51, only 4 names are missing now EDIT3: Vitor Reis and Gabriel Jesus have been added to the ge list, making it 53, 2 missing. EDIT4: Carlos Augusto makes it 54, ge is missing 1 name EDIT5: ge is still at 54, TNT and UOL have a 55 man list but there are some differences (for example, it includes Joelinton, not João Gomes) according to that list Natan (Real Betis) is also on the list. They can't both be on without contradicting the ge list. Goleiros Alisson (Liverpool) Bento (Al-Nassr) Ederson (Fenerbahçe) Hugo Souza (Corinthians) John (Nottingham Forest) Weverton (Grêmio) Defensores Alex Sandro (Flamengo) Bremer (Juventus) Danilo (Flamengo) Douglas Santos (Zenit) Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal) Ibañez (Al-Ahli) Fabricio Bruno (Cruzeiro) Kaiki Bruno (Cruzeiro) Leo Pereira (Flamengo) Leo Ortiz (Flamengo) Luciano Juba (Bahia) Marquinhos (PSG) Thiago Silva (Porto) Vitinho (Botafogo) Wesley (Roma) Paulo Henrique (Vasco) Alexsandro (Lille) Vitor Reis (Girona) Carlos Augusto (Inter Milan) Natan (Real Betis) Meio-campo Andreas Pereira (Palmeiras) Andrey Santos (Chelsea) Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle) Casemiro (Manchester United) Danilo (Botafogo) Ederson (Atalanta) Fabinho (Al-Ittihad) Gabriel Sara (Galatasaray) Gerson (Cruzeiro) João Gomes (Wolverhampton) Lucas Paquetá (Flamengo) Matheus Pereira (Cruzeiro) Atacantes Antony (Betis) Endrick (Lyon) Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal) Igor Jesus (Nottingham Forest) Igor Thiago (Brentford) João Pedro (Chelsea) Kaio Jorge (Cruzeiro) Luiz Henrique (Zenit) Matheus Cunha (Manchester United) Neymar (Santos) Pedro (Flamengo) Raphinha (Barcelona) Rayan (Bournemouth) Richarlison (Tottenham) Samuel Lino (Flamengo) Vini Jr (Real Madrid) Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
i I take those 6 midfielders in that order. I take 9 attackers on that list but swap the last two for rayan & Igor Thiago. The first 4 defenders would be my choice with 4 FBs.
Bento conceded a goal straight from a throw in today. Granted the defender sort of pulled a Felipe Melo on him. Still not a good look.
Curiously there is some discrepancy out there about the list. As a reminder, there is no official list from CBF. But both ge and TNT have gathered information and produced their lists. They are basically the same except for one or two names: Globo Esporte's list: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/futebo...stao-na-pre-lista-da-selecao-brasileira.ghtml TNT Sports Brasil's list: https://tntsports.com.br/futebolbra...leira-para-a-Copa-do-Mundo-20260512-0001.html Notes: Both are now at 55 players Both have the same 6 keepers Both include the same 20 defenders Both include the same 11 midfielders, BUT, Globo also includes João Gomes for a total of 12 Both include the same 17 forwards, BUT, TNT also includes Savinho for a total of 18
CBF has made it official. Ancelotti's contract has been renewed/extended until 2030: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/copa-d...lotti-com-a-selecao-brasileira-ate-2030.ghtml
The convocação is around the corner and a lot of people are speculating whether Neymar is in now. There are a million videos on the internet and most people are starting to think he will make it. However, some of the reporters closest to the coaching staff still think he is out. None of that is certain yet and maybe it could change this weekend. But here's one video going over the options and the likely call-up: Summary Bento, despite his recent error, is likely still in (Alisson isn't playing today, still something of a question mark, but expected to be on the list) There will be 9 defenders The coaching staff really like Vitor Reis, but Leo Pereira seems the likelier backup to Gabriel right now There is still a question mark on 5 or 6 mids vs. 8 or 9 mids Neymar is not the only candidate for that potential last spot Probable list Here are the likely 25 and the remaining question mark for 26 (again, this is not certain, this is based on what journalists close to the national team report, including Pedro Ivo Almeida in the video above): Alisson, Bento, Ederson Alex Sandro, Bremer, Danilo, Douglas Santos, Gabriel, Ibañez, Leo Pereira, Marquinhos, Wesley Bruno Guimarães, Casemiro, Danilo, Fabinho, Lucas Paquetá Endrick, Gabriel Martinelli, Igor Thiago, João Pedro, Luiz Henrique, Matheus Cunha, Raphinha, Vini Jr. The last spot is either Andrey (if they take an extra mid) or Rayan (if they take 9 forwards as planned). Could it be Neymar? Sure, but that would surprise most people who cover the national team every day. There is some talk that João Pedro has fallen a bit, definitely harmed by Chelsea's poor form, but it's hard to imagine a big surprise like him being dropped, or a different defender being picked. If there is a surprise (as an example, Alex Sandro out, Kaki Bruno in) I would imagine that injury risk would have a lot to do with that decision. Maybe an outside chance of a Leo Pereira or other recent "lock" not being chosen, but even those seem settled.