This coming Monday, May 18, at 5:45 PM Brasília time (4:45 PM Eastern), Carlo Ancelotti will call up the 26 players who will represent Brazil at this summer’s World Cup in North America.

Below, per Globo, is the 55-man list from which he will select his final squad. The only surprises in here are pretty minor, I’d say, and anyone whose inclusion raises some eyebrows probably doesn’t have much of a chance of making the final squad anyway: Lucas Beraldo missing out to the likes of Natan is a bit of a curveball, Gabriel Jesus has returned to the broader picture out of absolutely nowhere, and Thiago Silva’s inclusion is actually a pleasant development.

Below the list, you’ll find my own 26-man World Cup squad I’d call up out of these 55 players.

Goalkeepers

  • Alisson (Liverpool)
  • Bento (Al-Nassr)
  • Ederson (Fenerbahçe)
  • Hugo Souza (Corinthians)
  • John (Nottingham Forest)
  • Weverton (Grêmio)

Defenders

  • Alex Sandro (Flamengo)
  • Alexsandro Ribeiro (Lille)
  • Bremer (Juventus)
  • Carlos Augusto (Inter de Milão)
  • (Bad) Danilo (Flamengo)
  • Douglas Santos (Zenit)
  • Fabricio Bruno (Cruzeiro)
  • Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal)
  • Ibañez (Al-Ahli)
  • Kaiki Bruno (Cruzeiro)
  • Leo Ortiz (Flamengo)
  • Leo Pereira (Flamengo)
  • Luciano Juba (Bahia)
  • Marquinhos (PSG)
  • Natan (Betis)
  • Paulo Henrique (Vasco)
  • Thiago Silva (Porto)
  • Vitinho (Botafogo)
  • Vitor Reis (Girona)
  • Wesley (Roma)

Midfielders

  • Andreas Pereira (Palmeiras)
  • Andrey Santos (Chelsea)
  • Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle)
  • Casemiro (Manchester United)
  • (Good) Danilo (Botafogo)
  • Ederson (Atalanta)
  • Fabinho (Al-Ittihad)
  • Gabriel Sara (Galatasaray)
  • Gerson (Cruzeiro)
  • João Gomes (Wolverhampton)
  • Lucas Paquetá (Flamengo)
  • Matheus Pereira (Cruzeiro)

Forwards

  • Antony (Betis)
  • Endrick (Lyon)
  • Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal)
  • Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
  • Igor Jesus (Nottingham Forest)
  • Igor Thiago (Brentford)
  • João Pedro (Chelsea)
  • Kaio Jorge (Cruzeiro)
  • Luiz Henrique (Zenit)
  • Matheus Cunha (Manchester United)
  • Neymar (Santos)
  • Pedro (Flamengo)
  • Raphinha (Barcelona)
  • Rayan (Bournemouth)
  • Richarlison (Tottenham)
  • Samuel Lino (Flamengo)
  • Vini Jr (Real Madrid)

The Squad I’d Pick

Goalkeepers: Alisson, Hugo Souza, …Weverton?

I’ve written previously about my concerns regarding Brazil’s goalkeeping picture heading into this World Cup. Alisson has had a down year and is coming off a two-month injury layoff, Ederson has had us doubting for years whether he’s actually all that good of a goalie when you take away his passing ability, and seeming third choice Bento just made yet another horrible blunder in a big game for Al-Nassr. Oh, and that’s right, he plays in Saudi Arabia and he still makes these mistakes! Not that the depth chart beneath them is that thrilling. Hugo Souza seems to be pretty good, other than letting in three goals against Japan in his only Brazil appearance; Weverton is Weverton; and John is somehow on the list despite not yet having recovered from blowing out his knee making this horrible blunder back in January.

With all that in mind, we don’t have great options here, but replacing Bento with Hugo Souza, who appears less error-prone and also seems to be the best of these six goalies at saving penalties, seems obvious. Even if his only role is to be a Tim Krul type who comes on just for a penalty shootout, having that sort of secret weapon could be invaluable. As for Weverton… look, I don’t think he’s great, and I don’t have much faith in him, but I also don’t have much faith in Ederson. I look at some parts of our talent pool and I see some established names that just don’t seem like they could ever possibly make the difference for Brazil when it matters. It’s not like Weverton isn’t also a known quantity, but… I dunno, I feel like if we don’t take a couple of chances with our squad selection, we’re going to find ourselves with nothing but safe but mediocre choices to turn to when we really need someone who can provide even the possibility of turning things around.

Center-backs: Gabriel Magalhães, Marquinhos, Bremer, Alexsandro Ribeiro, Thiago Silva

At least we’re still spoiled for choice at center-back, and this choice feels easy by comparison. Gabriel and Marquinhos are no-brainers, Bremer and Alexsandro have had their iffy moments but seem to have the highest ceiling of anybody left (admittedly, I haven’t seen much of Vitor Reis, and if he’s good enough it might make more sense to call him up for the experience, as he could easily play in three or four more World Cups), and while he’s old as shit now, Thiago Silva is still the king. He may not be as quick as he once was, but his brain and his touch are still top-class, and (maybe a decade too late, to be fair) he seems to have finally grown into the sort of leader this team could really use.

Unfortunately, more likely we’ll see Léo Pereira in the squad, despite Kylian Mbappé absolutely torching him back in March, seemingly because the technical commission wants another left-footed player as Gabriel’s backup. I’d rather take the best available player, or a player who isn’t in his thirties and has more long-term potential. Danilo is also basically assured a place in the final squad, whether here or as a right-back.

Left-backs: Wesley, Alex Sandro

I know, I know; picking Alex Sandro leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But hear me out. We don’t seem to have any standout left-backs, offensively or defensively. Douglas Santos and Carlos Augusto are, at most, just okay going forward—better than Alex Sandro, sure, but I also don’t think I’d take either of them over him defensively. (I simply do not know enough about Luciano Juba or Kaiki Bruno to make a call about them.) With that in mind, I’d rather take the seemingly most defensively reliable left-back we have, rather than waffle about and get a jack of all trades, master of none. (Though, again, given the pickings, we’re probably talking less about a jack than a seven or eight. Please ignore how badly I’m mixing my metaphors here.)

And by a similar thought process, our best left-back going forward may not actually be a left-back by origin at all. Wesley has been thriving on the left for Roma, curling in golaços all season. He may defend like a headless chicken, but he can shoot, and he’s a hell of an athlete. (Plus, like, if we really need to, we can play him on the right.)

Right-backs: Paulo Henrique, Ibañez

Oh Christ, this is how I know we’re short on options at right-back: I have to seriously consider Roger Ibañez. I thought he was horrible against France, and playing in Saudi Arabia would count severely against him even if that weren’t the case. But he’s a player who can play both center-back and right-back in a pinch, and I’ll be damned if I pick an almost-35-year-old Bad Danilo just because he can also do that. I know I just picked Alex Sandro on the other flank despite him being similarly old, but Danilo has never been as reliable a defender.

And, again, speaking of players I cannot possibly see making the difference for Brazil when it matters—even this older, smarter, less defensively liable version of Danilo has only ever been quietly, steadily mediocre, and that came at the cost of ditching his once-actually-fairly-impressive offensive talents. Perhaps I have little faith, but Danilo Will Come Good Island was never that high above sea level at the best of times, and, well, we’re due for one hell of an El Niño. If the last spits of land aren’t already under the waves, they will be sooner rather than later.

As for Paulo Henrique: in the kingdom of the blind, the man who scored in his first and only start for Brazil is king. I’m puzzled as to why we haven’t given him another shot. I say move Wesley to the left and trust in what this guy can do.

Midfielders: Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães, Good Danilo, Andrey Santos, Éderson, Neymar

You can’t have read all that above about taking chances on players who might make a difference and not have seen this coming.

Look, I don’t have much faith in Neymar. I think it’s very likely that if he is selected, the circus he brings will do more harm than good, especially if he slaps his younger teammates for nutmegging him in training, like what the fuck? And watching his recent highlights, while he’s recaptured some semblance of fitness, he still looks a long way off from his best, to the point where he can’t even get the same zip on the ball that he used to. And yet, who else in the picture has even the slightest potential of carving a defense open with the right pass at a crucial moment? Because I’m pretty sure it’s not Matheus Cunha or even Andreas Pereira.

And, yes, I’m picking Neymar here even though he’s listed as a forward because I think this is where he actually has some utility, as the incisive passer that this team otherwise doesn’t really have.

As for the others: Casemiro, Bruno, and Good Danilo are no-brainers. Andrey Santos had a bad end to the year, but I think he’s still a solid all-rounder and I still have faith that he has a much higher attacking ceiling than he could show at Chelsea. Éderson is a risk, since Ancelotti doesn’t seem to think too highly of him, and he got to watch the guy in training while I didn’t, but I’d rather have him than Fabinho, a man I previously described as “get[ting] up from every tackle like he’s an anime character who just barely survived an attack that should have killed him” (derogatory). (Fabinho’s younger than Casemiro, by the way!)

Forwards: Vini Jr., Raphinha, Matheus Cunha, João Pedro, Endrick, Luiz Henrique, Igor Thiago, Rayan

26 players feels like a lot until it somehow isn’t, and even with squeezing Neymar into the midfielders list I still feel like I need to make some tough choices with the forwards.

But I think this is the best we have. Some of these players (Vini, Raphinha, Cunha, JP) haven’t quite flourished for Brazil recently, but they’re too good to leave out. Of the others, Luiz Henrique consistently gives his best for Brazil, and I bet he’ll move to a much bigger club after the World cup; Endrick took his last opportunity with Brazil wonderfully, and really thrived on loan at Lyon; Igor Thiago similarly took his chance with Brazil well (maybe not quite as well as Endrick) and, considering that no other striker can claim to have done the same, and that he’s authored the highest-scoring season by a Brazilian in Premier League history, he deserves a spot.

That last spot would probably, in Carlo Ancelotti’s judgment, go to Gabriel Martinelli, but—back to the core theme of these picks—I just don’t see him making a difference when we need him to. Mikel Arteta seems to have drilled all the flair out of him and turned him into a mindless, run-to-the-byline-and-cross robot. Nor is he in form: he’s no longer starting regularly for Arsenal, and his six goals for the club since the start of December came against Club Brugge, Portsmouth, Kairat Almaty, and Wigan, and the last of those was on February 15, exactly three months ago. Yes, he scored against Croatia, and normally I’d weigh performance for Brazil more highly, but the overall pattern of decline is clearer—and, again, I think we need to take a risk.

Enter Rayan, who has made an impressive start to life in England, with five goals and two assists in less than 1000 minutes of play so far, all while still a teenager. Frankly, Antony can feel hard done by that I’m picking Rayan over him, as he’s put up almost exactly the same minutes-per-goal-involvement numbers over a far larger sample size. I am absolutely guilty of getting too excited about the new hotness over here. But I can also give a few more pragmatic reasons for going with Rayan. First of all, while they are both primarily left-footed right wingers, Rayan seems to be more capable of playing on the left as needed, which is important because Martinelli is primarily more of a left-sided player and we still need options there. Additionally, Rayan is younger, and giving him experience at this World Cup could pay off for three or even four World Cups down the line; and last but not least, he’s much taller and more muscularly built than Antony, and I’ve been wary of Brazil losing the physical battle ever since we struggled in 2018 against a much taller and stronger Belgium team.

That’s who I’d pick—a squad apparently eclectic enough that Globo’s “pick your squad” tool didn’t let me select it. (It only let me pick five center-backs, and with Ibañez classified as a CB, I was forced to drop him. I picked Fabinho instead, since he has a history of playing right-back… and you know what, that actually wouldn’t be a half-bad idea…) Maybe you all have even more deranged ideas about your squad than I do. Leave them in the comments before Monday, when we’ll see if Carlo Ancelotti has us all beat.