Vinicius Junior has brutal take on Brazil’s ‘favorite’ status for 2026 FIFA World Cup

Brazil often goes into FIFA World Cups as one of the main favorites. Vinicius Junior doesn’t think that to be the case this time around.

Brazil usually shines on the brightest stage in all of soccer, winning five World Cup titles throughout its history. However, their last championship was in 2002 as they try to end that drought in the upcoming 2026 edition.

Junior has had an active presence on the national team roster, having appeared in the country’s last appearance in the 2022 World Cup. Having suffered a quarterfinal exit that year, he hopes for better results as the tournament takes place this summer in the United States, Mexico and Canada. However, he is keeping his expectations low as he doesn’t believe in Brazil being one of the favorites going into the tournament.

“I believe that [the national team] isn’t the favourite based on the results we’ve had,” the Real Madrid forward said, via ESPN.

“But the weight of the jersey, the weight of the players we have here … We’re going to do everything to put Brazil on top again. We don’t want to be favorites, we want to put Brazil on top.”

How Vinicius Junior, Brazil played against France

Vinicius Junior isn’t admitting defeat for Brazil as he knows they have the talent capable of going deep in the FIFA World Cup. However, they just played against one of this tournament’s favorites in France, falling 2-1 on March 26.

Junior tried to make his impact on the match, creating chances and drawing fouls to give Brazil an edge. Despite his efforts, goals from Kylian Mbappe and Hugo Ekitike paved the way for the French to secure the win in Boston, Massachusetts. The Brazilians still competed, getting a goal from Bremer in the second half in their unsuccessful rally attempt in the friendly.

Brazil will look to bounce back in their next friendly, remaining in the U.S. They will travel to Orlando, Florida to take on Croatia on March 31 at 8 p.m. ET.

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