2 min readJul 8, 2026 06:15 AM IST First published on: Jul 8, 2026 at 06:15 AM ISTWorld football’s beloved giant Brazil is sinking. When the new Vikings from Norway casually flicked them aside as their star forward Erling Haaland literally scored in walk-in-the-park fashion, Brazil seemed to fade into a sad sunset. The Brazilian samba tunes had been drowned by Norway’s celebratory rowing echoes. In a World Cup where tiny nations like Cape Verde and Curaçao showed that even they can compete, and where Germany and Holland went home early while Italy were a no-show, Brazil’s exit was the cue for the end of the notion of a football superpower.The signs date back to 2002 when the original Ronaldo —Nozario — had his last dance at a World Cup. While Neymar was force-fitted into a must-fill niche of Brazilian raw talent, he never really could nail down a World Cup. The main reason was the quality of men around him and the lack of seamless service and creative delivery. The void left behind by Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Leonardo was glaring. Norway had more players at the Champions League than the South Americans. Their coach, Carlo Ancelotti from Italy, wasn’t wrong in saying the “chasing pack” of countries had caught up.AdvertisementThe players in the present team have the win-gene in bits and pieces, but neither the swagger nor the suaveness of Haaland or Mbappé to turn matches on their own. Or maybe, like Morocco fans claimed earlier, Brazil’s streets just don’t have the hunger and humour or desperation to produce champions of yore. Ancelotti has great faith in turning things around. But Neymar was touted as the injection of new blood 15 years back. Maybe Brazil needs half a dozen of those, just like 2002 or before.