Andrey Santos Headline Brazil’s 26-Man World Cup Squad
andrey santos sits inside a Brazil squad that Carlo Ancelotti shaped with nine attackers and nine defenders on Monday. Neymar is in for a fourth World Cup squad, while Endrick also made the cut after struggling for a place in Ancelotti’s plans at Real Madrid.
Ancelotti did not dress it up. He said, "It may not be the perfect group, but it is a focused, concentrated, humble, selfless group," and added, "My idea is focused on the collective, not the individual."
Ancelotti’s Brazil balance
The 26-man list gives Brazil room to carry specialists, and Ancelotti used that space to load the squad with attacking options while still naming nine defenders. That mix fits a group the coach has spent 10 games assessing before his first World Cup as a manager.
Brazil’s shortage in crucial areas, especially at full-back, sits behind the selection. The expanded roster makes that easier to manage, and the coach’s wording made clear he wanted the group to work as one unit rather than around individual names.
Neymar and Endrick in
Neymar’s inclusion sends him to his fourth World Cup squad, keeping one of Brazil’s most familiar names in the frame. Endrick joins him after a season in which his form on loan at Lyon was described as unmissable, a sharp contrast with how hard he had found it to break into Ancelotti’s thinking at Real Madrid.
Those two selections sit alongside Alisson, described as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and defenders Marquinhos and Gabriel, who are leading figures for Arsenal and PSG. Bremer has rebounded with the rest of Juventus, while Roger Ibañez has stayed around the national team since leaving Roma for Al-Ahli in 2023.
1994 still hangs over Brazil
Ancelotti’s own history gives the squad another layer. He was part of Italy’s 1990 World Cup squad and later an assistant on Arrigo Sacchi’s staff when Italy reached the final in 1994, the same year Brazil won the tournament.
That Brazil team was built by Carlos Alberto Parreira around a 4-4-2 shape, with Dunga and Mauro Silva forming a double-pivot. The comparison is hard to miss: this squad is not being sold as a collection of stars, but as a group chosen to fit a structure.
For readers tracking Brazil’s World Cup path, the immediate takeaway is that Ancelotti has chosen flexibility over name count. Neymar is back, Endrick is in, and the squad’s shape tells you the coach wants enough specialists to cover the gaps that matter most.
