• Qatar and Ecuador square off in the tournament’s opening match
• The Paris Saint-Germain forward will play in his third World Cup
• Brazil is one of the favourites to win the World Cup this year

On November 20, the hosts Qatar and Ecuador square off in the tournament’s opening match. Brazil, who enters the World Cup with a star-studded team led by Neymar, is one of several tournament favourites.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward will play in his third World Cup; his first was the home edition in 2014, when Brazil suffered a disastrous 1-7 loss to Germany in the semifinals (Neymar missed the game due to an injury), and his most recent World Cup, in 2018, saw Belgium end Brazil’s campaign with a 2-1 victory in the quarterfinals.

Brazil is one of the favourites to win the World Cup this year, but Neymar has delivered a bombshell about his future with the national team before the tournament even begins.

The Brazilian attacker has stated categorically that the World Cup in Qatar might be his last.

“I’ll play like it’s the last,” Neymar told Globo.

“I talk to my father, we always talk, to play each game as if it were the last because you don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” Neymar further said.

Further discussing the subject, the 30-year-old star said he hasn’t made up his mind regarding the future but hinted that it would be challenging to adjust to a new coach.

“I can’t guarantee that I’ll play another [World] Cup. I honestly don’t know. I’ll play like it’s the last. Maybe I’ll play another one, maybe not. It depends. There’s going to be a coaching change and I don’t know if that coach will like me,” said Neymar.

After the World Cup in Qatar, Tite will step down from his position as coach of Brazil.

“I’ve already built a long history in the national team and, for sure, I want to finish it well,” Neymar added.

Neymar is just two goals short of matching Pele’s record for most goals scored in a single season for Brazil, and he will be attempting to do so during the World Cup.

“It’s more than I imagined, than I dreamt,” he said. “I never thought about numbers, I never wanted to overtake anyone, break a record. I always just wanted to play football.”

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