Brazil coach Fernando Diniz called up Neymar and Vinicius Junior on Friday for the opening matches of the Selecao’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, but left out Lucas Paqueta, who faces a sports-betting investigation in Britain. 

Still smarting from their elimination by Croatia in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, five-time champions Brazil will launch their qualifying campaign against Bolivia on September 8 in Belem, in northern Brazil.