Brazil World Cup 2026 Squad Quotes — Vinícius Júnior, Neymar & Casemiro Chase the Hexa

"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do."

Source: Pelé, the only player to win three World Cups (1958, 1962, 1970). The most quoted sentence in Brazilian sport.

"The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning."

Source: Pelé, in interviews on competition. A fitting motto for a Seleção that needed a 95th-minute Martinelli goal to get past Japan in 2026.

"I was born to play football, just like Beethoven was born to write music."

Source: Pelé, reflecting on his calling. Nobody in history has embodied "o jogo bonito" — the beautiful game — like the boy from Três Corações.

"Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy."

Source: Sócrates, captain of the legendary 1982 Brazil side and a medical doctor-philosopher. The purest statement of the Brazilian footballing ideal ever spoken.

"You will have to swallow me!" ("Vocês vão ter que me engolir!")

Source: Mário Zagallo, live on television after Brazil reached the 1998 World Cup final, answering his critics. Zagallo won the World Cup four times as player and coach — a record of defiance the 2026 squad inherits.

"Cry at the beginning so you can smile at the end." ("Chora no começo pra sorrir no fim.")

Source: Marta, six-time FIFA World Player of the Year, in her viral on-camera speech at the 2019 Women's World Cup urging the next generation to want it more, train more and take care of themselves more. Brazilian football's great modern rallying cry.

"There is no pressure when you are making a dream come true."

Source: Neymar, widely quoted interview remark from early in his career. At 34, recalled by Ancelotti for a fourth World Cup after two years away from the Seleção, the dream in question is now the Hexa.