Neymar is still out, but Vinicius Jr. and Raphinha are in charge of Brazil’s World Cup qualifiers

Vinicius Jr., a forward for Real Madrid, and Raphinha, a winger for Barcelona, will lead Brazil in this month’s World Cup qualifiers. Neymar, however, was not on coach Dorival Jr.’s list of players on Friday.

After coming back from a long-term knee injury in last week’s 5–4 Asian Champions League win over Al-Ain, Brazil’s top scorer Neymar will not play for his country.

Raphinha has been one of Barcelona’s best players so far this season. He scored a goal in a 4-0 win over Real Madrid and a hat-trick in the Champions League against Bayern Munich.

After missing last month’s qualifiers because of a neck injury, Vinicius Jr. will play for his country again, but Endrick, who plays for Real Madrid, was left out.

Brazil is currently in fourth place in South America with 16 points, six points behind winner Argentina. On November 14, they play at Venezuela, and then five days later, they host Uruguay.

According to Dorival, things are changing, but they aren’t perfect yet.

“We’ll be changing a little more until we find a steady state.” We’re getting better, though, and I hope that continues in the next few games so that we’ll be in a better spot next year.

There isn’t much importance for me in the first results. We will get closer to the leaders if God wills it.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Bento (Al-Nassr), Ederson (Manchester City), Weverton (Palmeiras)

Defenders: Danilo (Juventus), Vanderson (Monaco), Guilherme Arana (Atletico Mineiro), Abner (Olympique Lyonnais), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal), Marquinhos (Paris St Germain), Murilo (Nottingham Forest)

Midfielders: Andre (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Andreas Pereira (Fulham), Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United), Gerson (Flamengo), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham United), Raphinha (Barcelona)

Strikers: Estevao (Palmeiras), Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid), Luiz Henrique and Igor Jesus (Botafogo), Savinho (Manchester City)