Tite just called up 27 players for our June friendlies against South Korea (June 2), Japan (June 6), and a TBD African opponent (June 11) since the planned friendly against Australia was cancelled at the last minute. Here’s the squad, copy/pasted from Globo:

Goleiros: Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City) e Weverton (Palmeiras);

Zagueiros: Eder Militão (Real Madrid), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal), Marquinhos (PSG) e Thiago Silva (Chelsea)

Laterais: Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Danilo (Juventus), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Alex Telles (Manchester United), Guilherme Arana (Atlético-MG);

Meio-Campistas: Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Danilo (Palmeiras) Fabinho (Liverpool), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paquetá (Lyon), Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa);

Atacantes: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Matheus Cunha (Atlético de Madri), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Raphinha (Leeds United), Richarlison (Everton), Rodrygo (Real Madrid) e Vini Júnior (Real Madrid).

Very quick takeaways:

  • At this point, we have a very clear idea of where the competition remains for positions and who on the outside still has a chance. For instance, Gabigol and Everton Ribeiro have now been left out of three of the last four squads, suggesting that they’ve fallen hard out of favor (compare to Gabriel Jesus, who got left out last time but returns here). Gerson and Edenilson are among the others in the same boat; on the flipside, Bruno Guimarães’ good performances seem to have cemented him firmly in Tite’s good graces, and Matheus Cunha’s upside still seems to outweigh his middling performances for Atlético Madrid since his return from injury.
  • The big remaining competition is left-back, where Tite has called up seemingly his three preferred options for the two spots. I’m disappointed to see Renan Lodi remains left out. He’s been playing more as a wingback for Atlético, but he’s better going forward than any of the three guys Tite called and is at least as good defensively as the (admittedly pretty lax) Alex Telles. If FIFA does end up allowing 26-man squads at the World Cup, Lodi would be a tempting option for one of those three extra spots, as he brings the ability to play on the left side in a very different way from our other LBs.
  • The surprise inclusion is Danilo of Palmeiras, a very highly rated 21-year-old midfielder. I’m still not too familiar with him, but he seems to combine defensive adeptness with a good passing range and a knack for snatching the occasional important goal. I’d certainly rather have him than Ribeiro or Edenilson, and I’m curious to see him get some game time, but I can’t help but wonder if this is a bit of an olive branch to all the Casagrandes of the world who insist that Tite should be calling up more players based in Brazil. (Then again, the guy they really want to be called up is Danilo’s teammate Raphael Veiga, so who knows?)