Brazil Name Their 23-Man World Cup Squad - And It's Packed With Exciting Talent

It is just 30 days until this year’s World Cup starts and news on each team’s squad selection is beginning to filter through. On Monday evening Brazil – five-time winners of the competition – announced their 23-man group that will travel to Russia alongside Coach Tite. Whilst the likes of Argentina revealed an initial 35 players before having to trim down the selection to 23, Brazil made the decisive move to go straight in, seemingly wanting to get straight to the point.

Their choices prove that the perennial favourites to win the contest have quality throughout, Inter defender Miranda just beating Thiago Silva to the title of oldest member of that selection at 33 and Gabriel Jesus the youngest at 21. Yet despite the lack of indecision, some of the choices must have been tough, especially in the full-back department.

Filipe Luis of Atletico Madrid was preferred to Juventus left-back Alex Sandro, a choice that has caused some raised eyebrows. If that decision had come at the end of last term it would have been a bizarre one indeed, as the latter player had been one of the star performers in a league-and-cup-double winning Bianconeri side.

The Old Lady may have pulled off that feat once again in 2017/18, yet the performances of Alex Sandro have left a lot to be desired. Some have hinted that the player’s head had been turned thanks to constant transfer speculation linking him with a move away from Turin, but it has to be said that the Brazil boss has correctly gone for current form over reputation in this case.

Tite also suffered a huge blow when it was announced that Dani Alves would miss the tournament due to injury, and the Coach has opted for Danilo from Manchester City as a replacement with Fagner of Corinthians set to be the backup. That duo have a lot to live up to in terms of quality, the side ultimately weakened by the unfortunate loss of the PSG star.

One area where the Canarinha will not struggle in in the goalkeeping department. Their starter will undoubtedly be Alisson who has enjoyed a superb season with AS Roma, becoming the best performing goalkeeper in Serie A, with Ederson of Manchester City set to be his deputy. Cassio of Corinthians was preferred to Valencia stopper Neto, however with such a large representation from Europe, it was important to select some from home.

Indeed, 19 of the 23 man squad play their domestic football in Europe and Renato Augusto will be coming from China. Only the three remaining players – Cassio and Fagner from Corinthians and Geromel from Gremio – have remained in Brazil, making their inclusion all the more important. Only Willian, Paulinho, Neymar, Fernandinho and Marcelo from that group will be playing in their second World Cup, Russia 2018 being the first for 17 of the other players.

Despite this potential lack of experience on the world stage, many have competed in the Champions League this term, with Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino set to play in the final of the competition versus Real Madrid before the tournament even starts. Once again, the Selecao have a squad full of exciting talent, and nobody will be surprised if it is them that lift the World Cup trophy by the time this year’s edition concludes on July 15.

Goalkeepers: Alisson (AS Roma), Ederson (Manchester City), Cassio (Corinthians)

Defenders: Miranda (Inter), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), Geromel (Gremio), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Fagner (Corinthians), Danilo (Manchester City), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid)

Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Paulinho (Barcelona), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona), Willian (Chelsea), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk)

Forwards: Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Firmino (Liverpool), Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk), Douglas Costa (Juventus)