World Cup 2026: Can Vinicius Junior get the same accolades as Brazil’s Neymar?

Carlo Ancelotti’s press conference was drawing to a close when he addressed the elephant in the room in his typically subtle, elegant way.

“People sometimes say there are no stars in Brazil now. Maybe that’s true,” the Brazil manager said before a friendly against Panama at the end of May.

“We don’t have Pele, Romario or Ronaldo, but we can have a shared sense of responsibility and that can be a very powerful thing.”

Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior was expected to become the Selecao’s leading man by now.

Still, four years after his 2022 World Cup quarter-final exit against Croatia in a penalty shoot-out, doubts remain surrounding the 25-year-old forward.

Such is the situation following Brazil 2-1 loss to France In March, debate began in his homeland as to whether Vinicius still deserved a place in the starting XI.

“Should Vinicius be excluded?” asked Linha de Pase of ESPN, one of Brazil’s most traditional soccer panel shows

Even with the arrival of former Real Madrid serial winner Ancelotti, arguably the most influential coach Vinicius has had in his club career, the question of what has defined his national team’s story so far continues to haunt him.

The gist of it is this: “Why can’t Vinicius reproduce his Madrid form with the Selecao?”

Vinicius is Brazil’s top scorer this World Cup cycle, but his numbers are still low – seven goals and six assists in 28 games.

“It’s difficult for him to play at the same level for his club,” Kleber Xavier, who served as Brazil’s assistant coach at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, told BBC Sport.

“Once you get to the national team, the reality is much harder than it looks from the outside. At your club, it’s different training, different ways of playing, different teammates, every day where something happens and develops.

“The clearest example is (Lionel) Messi with Argentina. He was always questioned about it and could only do it in 2022. But that’s because Argentina managed to build a team. In Qatar, we faced Croatia and they were almost like a club because they repeated a lot of players. That’s how you give a player a proper structure.”

Vinicius never shied away from the conversation.

“In our clubs, there’s a new opportunity every three days,” he told Cage TV in a recent interview.

“So if I play badly in two matches out of 10, no one will talk about it that much. With the national team, it’s a long time between one match and the next. The pressure is always huge and people always expect my best performance.

“If I go to the World Cup, score four or five goals and we become champions, the whole story changes. Then people will say I was preparing myself for the World Cup, even in the games I didn’t play well.”