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Joao Fonseca rates Brazil’s chances at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Originally posted on HITC | By Callum Davies | Last updated Mar 12, 2026 3:05 PM ET

Joao Fonseca is one of tennis’ brightest talents, but was actually discussing football earlier this week.

That was, despite enjoying a fairytale run at Indian Wells, beating stars like Karen Khachanov and Tommy Paul before losing narrowly to Jannik Sinner in the Round of 16.

Speaking just before his match with the latter of the trio, the former world number one, Fonseca joined CoCo Vandweghe, Brad Gilbert and Chris Eubanks to discuss his performances in the California desert so far.

However, before talking about the tennis, football seemingly took precedence.

Joao Fonseca speaks about the Brazil team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Speaking with the Tennis Channel crew, the pundits remarked as Fonseca swanned on stage wearing a bright yellow t-shirt with the Brazilian flag embroidered on his chest.

This spurred Vandeweghe to enquire about Brazil’s chances at the upcoming FIFA World Cup, knowing what a keen football fan the 19-year-old was.

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He responded by rating his nation’s chances of success this summer, noting: “I mean, we have a good team. We have a good team. All the players are huge.

“Unfortunately, Rodrygo, the Real Madrid player, he injured himself and he’s not going, but, well, we have a good team. It’s always good. I’m a huge fan of the World Cup.

“I know I’m a little bit young. I didn’t see so many [wins], but it’s always good. My family’s always into sports, so we’ll see, it’s going to be great, and hopefully Brazil can do it well.”

How long is Real Madrid player Rodrygo injured for?

As Fonseca alluded to, Rodrygo will be out for the World Cup this year, having been ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.

The 25-year-old described it as ‘one of the worst days of my life’ on social media after sustaining this setback, as Real Madrid confirmed he had ‘been diagnosed with a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and a rupture of the lateral meniscus of his right leg’.

Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

This is one of the most gruelling injuries a footballer can suffer, if not the most. The time on the sidelines is long enough, only exacerbated by how long it then takes to recover and get back up to speed.

He underwent successful surgery earlier this week, and the hope is that Rodrygo will be back at the start of 2027.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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