Who Made Brazil's 2018 Football Squad and How They Performed in World Cup
I still remember the excitement buzzing through my favorite São Paulo café when Brazil's 2018 World Cup squad was announced. As someone who's followed Brazilian football religiously since the 2002 triumph, I found myself immediately analyzing Tite's selections with both hope and skepticism. The question on everyone's mind was simple yet profound - who made Brazil's 2018 football squad and how would they perform on the world's biggest stage?
Looking back now, that squad represented a fascinating blend of established superstars and emerging talents. The core group featured household names like Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, and Marcelo, but what intrigued me most were the surprise inclusions. I recall arguing with my cousin about Fagner's selection over Dani Alves after the latter's injury - I thought it was a mistake that would cost us, though I've since reconsidered that position. The team seemed perfectly balanced on paper, with Casemiro providing defensive stability while Gabriel Jesus led the frontline. What struck me was how this squad embodied both Brazil's glorious football tradition and the modern tactical demands of European football. They entered Russia as second favorites behind Germany, carrying the hopes of 200 million Brazilians desperate to erase the memory of that 7-1 humiliation four years earlier.
Their tournament performance followed a pattern I've seen too often with Brazilian teams - brilliant in flashes but ultimately falling short when it mattered most. They cruised through the group stage with two wins and a draw, though I remember feeling uneasy during that 1-1 stalemate against Switzerland. The knockout stage brought moments of sheer magic, particularly that 2-0 victory against Mexico where Neymar and Firmino combined beautifully. But then came that quarterfinal against Belgium, a match that still haunts my football memories. We dominated possession with 61% but conceded two early goals from defensive errors - something that's plagued Brazilian teams for years. I was sitting in that same São Paulo café, surrounded by stunned silence when Kevin De Bruyne's rocket found the net. Our late push, including Renato Augusto's header, came too little too late. The 2-1 defeat felt particularly cruel because we'd outshot Belgium 27 to 9, with 11 corners to their 2. The statistics told one story, but the scoreline told the painful truth about tournament football.
What fascinates me about that tournament exit is how it reflects broader issues in Brazilian football development. I was reminded of this recently when reading comments from coach Chot Reyes about talent development programs. He noted, "Proud kami na may kumukuha sa program namin. Yung iba naman, may grassroot programs din at hindi lang din naman kami nagiging biktima nito — even sa basketball or other sports." This perspective resonates deeply with me when analyzing Brazil's 2018 campaign. We're seeing similar patterns across sports - nations with robust grassroots programs consistently producing talent that performs under pressure. Belgium's golden generation, which eliminated us, benefited from precisely this kind of systematic development. Meanwhile, Brazil still relies heavily on individual brilliance rather than cohesive team systems. I've noticed this trend worsening over the past decade - our domestic development programs aren't keeping pace with European counterparts, and it shows in crucial tournament moments.
The solution, in my view, requires balancing our natural flair with more structured development. We need to embrace what made Brazil's 2018 squad special - the technical quality of players like Coutinho and Willian - while addressing the tactical naivety that cost us against Belgium. From my observations working with youth academies here in São Paulo, the most successful programs combine traditional Brazilian technical training with modern tactical education. We should be developing players who can adapt to different game situations rather than relying on individual moments of magic. The data from that Belgium match still stings - we completed 84% of our passes and created 15 scoring chances, yet we lost because of two defensive lapses in the first half. That's not bad luck, that's a systemic issue.
Reflecting on who made Brazil's 2018 football squad and their World Cup performance provides crucial lessons for our football future. That team had enough quality to win the tournament - anyone who watched their group stage performances could see that. But quality alone isn't enough at the highest level. The most successful national teams today build from strong grassroots foundations while maintaining their footballing identity. As Brazil looks toward future tournaments, we need to ask ourselves difficult questions about player development and tactical preparation. Personally, I believe we're at a crossroads - we can either cling to outdated development models or create a new Brazilian style that respects our heritage while embracing modern football demands. The 2018 squad's journey, from the initial excitement to that heartbreaking quarterfinal exit, serves as both warning and inspiration for what Brazilian football could become.