Carlo Ancelotti will announce on May 18th the long-awaited list with the names of Brazil’s 26 squad for the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
However, the group of Brazilians who will compete in the World Cup between June 11th and July 19th will not be restricted to them.
Canada, the United States, Paraguay, Portugal and Qatar have a good chance of having players born in Brazil or who are children of Brazilian parents and also have nationality.
Throughout the history of the World Cups, Brazil has had almost 40 players playing for other teams. The first was Anfilogino Guarisi, aka Filó, an idol of Corinthians, champion with Italy in 1934.
In 1962, Mazzola, who lifted the cup with the Brazilian team in 1958, also defended the Azzurri — FIFA (International Football Federation) changed its rules shortly afterwards, preventing players from defending more than one team in World Cups.
Since 1990, there has always been at least one Brazilian defending another team in the World Cup.
Under the command of Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, the Paraguayan team could have for the first time the presence of Brazilian athletes in a World Cup — midfielder Maurício, from Palmeiras, and goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, from São Paulo.
Grandson of Paraguayan, the 24-year-old midfielder completed the naturalization process at the beginning of February. He was called up for the March friendlies and made his debut in a duel against Greece.
Born in São Paulo, Maurício entered 15 minutes into the second half and received praise from the coach. “Maurício entered the field in the same way as he did at Palmeiras, taking control of the match, analyzing the field, getting to know his teammates, but giving the team the necessary tranquility,” said Alfaro.
Goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, 29, was born in Corumbá (MS) and raised in Porto Murtinho (MS), a city that borders Paraguay. He is the son of a Brazilian father and a Paraguayan mother.
Backing up Rafael at São Paulo and Gatito Fernández in the Paraguayan national team, the archer received his first call-up in August 2023. He was also part of the Paraguayan squad that competed in the 2024 Copa América.
Paraguay is in Group D of the World Cup, alongside the United States, Australia and Türkiye.
Also in Group D, the United States team is another that will be able to count on a player of Brazilian nationality in its World Cup squad: midfielder Johnny Cardoso, from Atlético de Madrid.
Son of Brazilian parents and born in Denville (New Jersey), in the United States, Cardoso moved to Brazil when he was just three months old. He played at Criciúma and Avaí before arriving at Internacional, where he made his professional debut in 2019.
He was traded to Real Betis, from Spain, at the end of 2023, and announced by Atlético de Madrid in July 2025.
With Brazilian and American nationality, he chose to defend the United States team from the youth teams. He made his debut for the senior team in November 2020, in a goalless friendly with Wales. He is two-time champion of the Concacaf Nations League (Confederation of Football Associations of North, Central America and the Caribbean).
Portugal is the team with the most naturalized Brazilians who have ever competed in the World Cup, with six athletes.
Two of them have already played in the 2022 World Cup and are tipped to return to defend the Portuguese team in two months — midfielders Matheus Nunes, from Manchester City, and Otávio, from Al Qadsiah.
Carioca, Nunes, 27, moved to Portugal as a teenager and made his base at Ericeirense. In Portugal, he also played for Estoril and Sporting — where he was Portuguese champion in the 2020/21 season.
During his time at Sporting, the player was called up by Tite, but ended up refusing the call to be able to defend Portugal.
Otávio, 31, born in João Pessoa (PB), played at the Santa Cruz and Internacional bases. He debuted as a professional for the Porto Alegre team, where he won the second Gaucho championship (2013 and 2014) and was called up to the Brazilian under-20 team, before moving to Porto.
After having a good Portuguese championship in the 2019/20 season — winning the league title and being voted one of the best in the competition —, he received his first call-up, in August 2021.
The Portuguese team is part of Group K, along with Colombia, Uzbekistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Brazilians help Qatar achieve first ranking
After debuting at the World Cup in 2022, as the host country, Qatar guaranteed its qualification to the World Cup for the first time through the Asian Qualifiers for 2026.
In the campaign for the place, including in the decisive game against the United Arab Emirates, the Qatari team had the participation of two Brazilian players who could also be in the World Cup — Lucas Mendes and Edmilson Júnior.
Mendes, 35, from Curitiba, is a defender and started his career at Coritiba. In 2012, he moved to Olympique de Marseille, where he stayed for two seasons, before starting his career in the Qatari league. He had spells at El Jaish, Al Duhail, Al Gharafa and has been at Al Wakrah since 2020.
The defender received his first call-up at the end of 2023 and was part of the Asian Cup winning squad. He scored his first goal in a qualifying game against Uzbekistan, in 2024.
A striker with dual citizenship —Brazilian and Qatari—, Edmilson Júnior, 31, was born in Liège, Belgium, at a time when his father —Edmilson, with spells at Sport and Botafogo—, played for Standard Liège.
He played from 2012 to 2018 for Belgians Sint-Truiden and Standard Liège, before moving to Al Duhail, becoming champion of the Qatari league in the 2019/20 season.
His debut for the national team took place in September 2024, in a qualifying match against North Korea. He played nine qualifying games, without finding the net.
The Qatar team can still count on another Brazilian: midfielder Guilherme Torres, 34, from Santo André (SP), with spells at Portuguesa and Corinthians in the early 2010s.
In 2014, he moved to Udinese and played for Deportivo La Coruña and Olympiacos, before arriving in 2020 at Al Sadd, where he was three-time champion of the local league. He debuted for the Qatari national team in September 2025, in friendlies against Bahrain and Russia.
Qatar is in group B, along with Canada, Switzerland and Bosnia.
Tiago Coimbra, 22, born in Fortaleza, received his first call-up to Canada’s senior team in January, for a friendly against Guatemala.
Having spent time at Palmeiras’ youth team, the striker spent part of his adolescence in Canada and was called up to the youth team. He made his professional debut in 2023 for Halifax Wanderers, where he stayed until the beginning of this year, when he arranged a transfer to IFK Göteborg, in Sweden.
Brazilians who can compete in the World Cup for other teams
CANADA
Tiago Coimbra (IFK Gothenburg)
USA
Johnny Cardoso (Atlético de Madrid)
PARAGUAY
Maurício (Palmeiras)
Carlos Coronel (São Paulo)
PORTUGAL
Matheus Nunes (Manchester City)
Octavius (Al Qadsiah)
QATAR
Lucas Mendes (Al Wakrah)
Edmilson Júnior (Al Duhail)
Guilherme Torres (Al Sadd)
