Brazil’s 2026 World Cup campaign ended in stunned silence at MetLife Stadium, where Erling Haaland’s second-half double overturned an early lead and sent the five-time champions out in the last 16 for the first time since 1990. For nearly a week, the squad’s most luminous talent, Vinícius Júnior, said nothing publicly. On Friday, he posted a black-and-white image of himself lying on the turf and a message that laid bare the scale of the disappointment. “The feeling of frustration is enormous,” he wrote. “We had a group strong enough to do more, and we didn’t achieve it.”

The match had unravelled with a penalty miss that, viewed from Rio de Janeiro, came to symbolise a tournament of squandered promise. With the score goalless, Bruno Guimarães stepped up but saw his effort saved by Ørjan Nyland. Vinícius, who had scored four times in the group stage, was later criticised for not taking the kick himself. Norway, compact and clinical, struck twice in eleven minutes through Haaland, whose movement exposed a back line that had looked vulnerable since the opening draw with Morocco. Brazil’s lone reply could not prevent an exit that left the Seleção with their worst performance in 36 years.

In the aftermath, the Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, who signed a contract extension through 2030 just before the tournament, faced calls from former striker Romário to resign. He remains in post, but the mood in Brazil is bleak. A social-media analysis by Orbit Data Science found that 41 per cent of fans discussing the team’s future now believe the country will never win another World Cup. The scepticism had been building even before the tournament, with confidence peaking only briefly after a group-stage win over Panama.

Vinícius, 25, ended the tournament with four goals and one assist, his early spark fading as the knockout rounds began. His Instagram message, addressed to supporters of all ages, acknowledged the weight of the shirt. “Wearing the national team jersey is the greatest pride of my life, and going out of a World Cup in the last 16 is a feeling that is difficult to explain,” he said. He promised to “fight for our dream of returning to the top of the world.”

The next opportunity will come in 2030, when the World Cup is staged across six countries on three continents. Brazil, as a non-host, must navigate South American qualifying. Vinícius will be 29 when that tournament begins, an age at which many forwards reach their peak. For now, the Seleção are left to absorb a defeat that, in the words of their most gifted player, has left a frustration that is “absurd.”