Yesterday, 05 of July, 2026, Norway beat Brazil by 2x1 in knockout stage, eliminating the opponent and robbing us from the coveted sixth championship, curiously, for the sixth time.
Despite rooting for my country, as one does, I am not a football fan and after watching the game, I thought it was relatively even (at least in the first half) and it could go either way. In the end, the more focused, skilled and auspicious one won, and for this, I congratulate the Norwegian team. They played well.
As for our team, I have opinions that may or may not be relevant, as I am a football tourist. I'm not a rabid fan, nor I scour the past game data to build and analyze tactics. I simply watch the game to see the ball go into the net, preferably from the team I'm rooting for.
My opinion is thus: I think that the amount of past victories has become a liability in Brazil's mindset. We are, according to the media, proud five-time champions — that is, the "Pentacampeão" — earned throughout the entire World Cup history. This has built the mythos that we are entitled to win: after all, we are the only country to achieve this fact, and this is always brought up whenever our historical football rivals try to mock the Brazilian squad.
But this is a fallacy: just because we achieved victory five times in the past, it doesn't mean we're entitled to another one just because. And, obviously, joining a championship means you agree with the possibility of losing. Many talented and courageous teams have been eliminated already, with some of them never having raised the elusive trophy in their hands in their history. And that's okay.
Now, I am sure that many people have a lot more opinions about the game and the Brazilian team. "If the squad was selected better", "if a certain player took the penalty shot", "if our players played more ball instead of acting like influencers", "if the coach didn't change the players near the end of the game"... those opinions are endless and each one of them show a different facet, a different focus on the same event that unfolded before us. Perhaps they could all be true, perhaps not. But the truth is that those "ifs" do not matter: results matter, and as the Destiny's whims so desired, Norway won and Brazil lost.
Winning and losing is intrinsic to sports, and it happens. Both teams were liable to bad choices and bad luck, and that's normal. It happens. And I'd even go as far as saying that even if our team was perfectly focused in the match, it would still be susceptible to defeat: after all, there are just too many variables in play, and this is something football fans know very much.
Now, perhaps Brazil should play in the next World Cup as if they had no trophies. I'm pretty sure this is the source of much pressure, and kind of a crutch nowadays, honestly.
Good game, and much luck to Norway.