FIFA 2026: 'Try again next World Cup': Neymar mocks German economist after Brazil victory

Although Neymar did not play, but he still grabbed attention after Brazil came from behind to beat Japan 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32. After the match, the Brazilian star reacted on X to German economist Joachim Klement, whose statistical model had predicted that Japan would eliminate Brazil. Neymar wrote on X, "Sr. Joachim klement ... favor tentar na proxima copa," roughly translating to, "Mr Joachim Klement... please try again at the next World Cup."

Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti later explained that he had planned to bring Neymar on in the second half. However, after Brazil equalised, he decided to save the forward in case the match went into extra time.

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FIFA World Cup 2026 Live on Zee5 Photograph: (WION)

Speaking after Brazil’s 2-1 win, Ancelotti said, “I talked to Ney (Neymar), if we don't draw, he'd come on at 60 minutes. Since we drew, I was preserving him for the 30 minutes of extra time”.

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Coming to the match, Brazil secured the victory thanks to Gabriel Martinelli, who scored the winning goal in the 95th minute to complete a dramatic comeback in front of a packed crowd on Tuesday (IST).

With the win, Brazil moved into the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16. They will face either Ivory Coast or Norway on Jul 5 at the New York New Jersey Stadium.

With inputs from agencies