Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), March 21 (IANS) Corinthians goalkeeper Hugo Souza has been drafted into Brazil’s squad for FIFA World Cup warm-up friendlies against France and Croatia in the United States, the South American country’s football confederation said on Friday.
The 27-year-old replaces Liverpool’s Alisson Becker, who suffered an unspecified injury in the English club’s 4-0 home win over Galatasaray in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie on Wednesday.
Souza, who began his career at Flamengo before joining Corinthians in 2025, made his international debut in Brazil’s 3-2 friendly defeat to Japan last October.
Brazil will play France in Boston on March 26 and Croatia in Orlando five days later.
The South American team will begin its World Cup campaign against Morocco on June 13 before facing Haiti on June 19 and Scotland on June 24 in Group C.
Meanwhile, star forward Neymar was left out of the squad named by coach Carlo Ancelotti for this month’s friendlies, as the five-time world champions continue their preparations for the 2026 World Cup.
Neymar’s absence comes after the 34-year-old missed a recent game for Santos FC due to muscle fatigue, a match which Ancelotti had planned to assess him in person during a scouting trip ahead of the squad announcement.
Neymar, Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 79 goals, has not played for the national team since suffering a serious knee injury in October 2023 and has struggled to maintain a consistent run of matches since returning to Santos last year. Neymar, at a Kings League event in Sao Paulo on Monday, said that he was disappointed and sad about being left out.
“But I remain focused, day after day, training session after training session, match after match. We will achieve our goal. The dream continues.”
Ancelotti has called up 19-year-old Endrick, who returns to international action for the first time in almost a year, and handed a first call-up to Brentford’s Igor Thiago as Brazil look to refresh their attacking options.
Brazil will play another friendly against Egypt in June before beginning their Group C World Cup campaign against Morocco on June 13.
–IANS
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