Brazil will lock horns against Norway in their Round of 16 clash at the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026 on Monday, July 5 (As per IST). Ahead of the crucial fixture, the five-time world champions received a positive update on star forward Raphinha's fitness which was revealed by Carlo Ancelotti.
Big update on Raphinha's fitness
While appearing at the pre-game press conference, the Italian tactician revealed that the star Barcelona forward's fitness level has improved a lot, which may be good enough for him to be on the bench in the game against Norway.
"Raphinha has improved a lot. He isn't at 100 percent yet, but he can play a few minutes and help the team, said Ancelotti.
While Continuing further, Ancelotti claimed that Raphinha is a very important part of the Brazilian national team and his presence in the lineup is going to be big boost for them in their hunt of the sixth world title.
"He might be on the bench to play a few minutes so we might be able use him. But he is recovering very fast and we are very happy. That’s because he is a very important player for our team," added Ancelotti.
What happened to Raphinha?
The star Barcelona forward endured a Grade 1 injury during Brazil's game against Haiti on June 21, which forced the Brazilian side to change their attacking plans. Meanwhile the star player stayed determined to make a comeback and committed to an intensive rehabilitation programme which consisted of three treatment sessions per day.
While the national team travelled to other cities for their fixtures, Raphinha stayed at Brazil's training base with the team's medical staff to achieve full recovery. As an outcome, Raphinha missed just two games and made a comeback to training this week.
It will be interesting to see if Brazil can reach the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 by defeating Norway in the Round of 16, as the Norwegian side is coming off an amazing run so far in the tournament. Erling Haaland is Norway's top scorer with 5 goals in just three games. On the other hand, Vinicius Junior has stood up as a saviour with some match-winning performance, the left-winger has scored four goals and recorded one assist in five games.