International newspapers highlighted the Brazil national team’s elimination from the 2026 World Cup. The Brazilians lost to Norway 2-1 on Sunday (July 5, 2026). The elimination in the Round of 16 marks Brazil’s worst campaign in the tournament since 1990. The Norwegian newspaper VG highlighted the celebrations in the streets of Oslo and the “bad mood” in Rio de Janeiro, referring to players Ørjan Håskjold Nyland and Erling Braut Haaland as the “new heroes.”
The Athletic, the sports site of The New York Times, published a report on Monday morning (July 6, 2026) titled: “How Brazil was knocked out of the 2026 World Cup by a Norway side inspired by Erling Haaland.” The text includes match statistics and states that fans and the media were restrained in their irritation due to the team’s performance. “I think Carletto and everyone else cheering for Brazil today knows they were beaten, fair and square. What else is there to say?” the report stated.
The Argentine digital newspaper Olé declared that the match was “a slap in the face of the history” of Brazilian football, which loves possession, venerates beautiful passing, and features dreamy, creative teams. “Modernity has swept all of that away, and this team plays, wins, and loses with a different formula,” wrote reporter Diego Macias.
Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport classified the match as a disappointment and declared that the Brazilian national team has developed an allergy to European football, adding that the nation is incapable of producing talents like it once did. According to the report, Vini Jr. is the only player of “real quality from the waist up in a mediocre team that Brazil wanted to be champion on its own merits.”
Portugal’s A Bola praised the Norwegian duo of Andreas Schjelderup and Erling Haaland, who led their team—in its first World Cup of the 21st century—to victory over the five-time world champions. The text also recounted Brazil’s history of eliminations by European teams in every edition of the tournament since 2002, the year of Brazil’s last title.
Read more:
* Romário says Brazil deserved to be eliminated from the Cup
* Brazil national team: see the ages of the players in the 2030 World Cup
* Brazil records lowest possession in World Cup history since 1966
WORLD CUP
The World Cup is a private, for-profit sporting event held every four years by FIFA. Teams qualify through preliminary matches. The coaching staff and the roster of each team competing in the tournament are chosen by private entities.
In the case of Brazil, it is up to the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) to define who the coach is and which players are “called up” (in reality, all are invited, and those interested attend; given the significant commercial marketing gains, athletes accept the “call-up”). The CBF is a private organization with no ties to the federal government.
The Brazilian government has no influence on the selection of the team that participates in the tournament. In other words, it is not the country itself being represented in the World Cup, but rather a football team chosen by a private entity.
