📹 Brazil win final friendly before the call-up, who stood out?

Brazil beat Croatia 3-1 this Tuesday (31) in Orlando, Florida, in the United States.

The friendly was the national team’s final test before head coach Carlo Ancelotti names the final squad of 26 players on May 18 for the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

⚽ The match

The game was a friendly, but because of the team’s recent disappointing results, there was a certain tension in the air.

Carlo Ancelotti, for example, got angry with the broadcast cameraman, who was blocking his view of the field.

On top of that, after Brazilian fans called for Neymar during the friendly against France in Boston, signs supporting the Santos forward were seen in the stands in Orlando.

Once the ball started rolling, Brazil played better, especially in the first half.

Unlike the match against France, Brazil had more possession and created good chances to open the scoring.

The relieving goal, however, only came in first-half stoppage time, when Vini Jr led a counterattack down the left and found Danilo Santos in the box.

After the break, Brazil slowed down and watched Croatia improve on the field.

The team that knocked Brazil out of the 2022 World Cup showed resilience, keeping the ball until it found the equalizer.

Fruk crossed from the right, and Majer appeared between Marquinhos and Danilo to get in front of the Flamengo defender and take advantage of Bento’s poor decision off his line to level the score.

However, on the very next play, Endrick was brought down in the box. 

The striker who came through at Palmeiras and belongs to Real Madrid, but is playing for Lyon, picked up the ball and handed it to newcomer Igor Thiago.

The Brentford standout from England sent the goalkeeper the wrong way from the penalty spot and sealed Brazil’s win.

Again in stoppage time, after another perfect counterattack that started with Igor Thiago winning the ball in midfield, Endrick burst forward and set up Gabriel Martinelli.

The Arsenal forward fired a low shot across goal to complete the scoring.

🚦 What’s next

According to the schedule, head coach Carlo Ancelotti is expected to submit a preliminary list of 55 players to FIFA on May 11, with the official list of 26 called-up players to be delivered on May 18.

On May 31, the national team will have its send-off at the Maracanã against Panama, and on June 6, already in Cleveland, USA, Brazil will face Egypt.

Brazil will make its World Cup debut on June 13 against Morocco in New Jersey, then face Haiti in Philadelphia on June 19, and close out its group-stage campaign against Scotland on June 24 in Miami.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.