Brazil, led by Neymar, landed in Doha on Saturday evening (around 21:00 French time) in search of a sixth world title after a twenty-year absence.
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One of the competition’s favourites, the Seleção, have arrived in Italy from Turin where they trained for five days in preparation for their opening match against Serbia on Thursday 24 November. Tite’s team is the last of the 32 teams in the tournament to set foot on Qatari soil.
First practice in Qatar this Sunday
The 26 Brazilian players and their staff landed at the international airport and then proceeded to the Westin Doha Hotel in the modern center of the capital, where they will stay during the competition.
They are due to train at Al Arabi Stadium for the first time on Sunday night, their base camp during the tournament.
In Qatar, Brazil wants to end the hegemony of European teams in the worlds of the 21st century. four of the five world championships have been won by European countries, benefiting from Neymar’s good form.
Neymar was waiting at the turn
The Paris Saint-Germain forward, a Seleção star, is competing in his third World Cup after disappointing World Cups in Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018.
At the age of 30, Ney is coming off the back of an excellent half-season at PSG, where he scored thirteen goals and provided eleven assists in 19 Ligue 1 and Champions League appearances.
But Neymar may not go beyond the World Cup in Qatar. That’s what he hinted at in October 2021 when he said he would retire after the tournament because he didn’t have “mental capacity to continue being a footballer“.
Brazil is in great form
Tite, his coach, and Marquinhos, his teammate in Paris, then qualified his words. From an early age, the star dreamed of this title, which would put him on the royal path to the Ballon d’Or, his other big ambition.
The Brazilians arrive in Qatar unbeaten in fifteen games in a row (twelve wins and three draws). Their last defeat dates back to 2021, in the Copa América final against Lionel Messi’s Argentina (1-0), another favorite for the 2022 World Cup, at the legendary Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
Source: Le Figaro
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