Why are Brazilian teams doing so well at Club World Cup?

Brazilian football expert Tim Vickery says, “This Club World Cup is a dream come true for Brazil fans.”

Everyone is talking about it, according to everyone at every bus stop and water cooler. It’s full-on”.

Brazil is swooning over Brazil while Britain sleeps, with some games starting at 02:00 BST for the newly expanded tournament in the United States.

No wonder, then.

Millions of football fans have watched the fortunes of Sao Paulo-based teams Palmeiras, Flamengo, and Botafogo, as well as the Rio-based teams’ fortunes on television.

And they have had a tournament.

On Friday, Fluminense will face Al-Hilal in the quarter-finals, while Palmeiras will face Chelsea for a spot in the final two.

Fans are still enthralled by the four Brazilian teams’ impressive accomplishments in moving from their groups to the last-16 stage.

The majority of the games for the 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, too. Mexico and Canada host together.

What will a Brazilian team’s victory in the Club World Cup have to do with their chances of winning it six times?

This club-level success, in all fairness, was not necessarily anticipated.

Brazilian sports journalist Renata Mendonca, who covered the progress of all four Brazilian teams, said, “I didn’t expect that, most people in Brazil didn’t expect that.”

Both Argentina’s Boca Juniors and River Plate teams have already been eliminated, as have Manchester City, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, and Porto.

Brazil’s Flamengo and Botafogo both suffered defeats in the final sixteen, but the remaining two sides are still hopeful.

According to Vickery, “This tournament is a priority in the way an Olympic athlete will complete his training and programming at a certain point.”

“For Palmeiras, who really wants to win,” of course. They have set themselves the highest standards for this, and they are doing so right now.

Could the climate that the Brazilian teams are accustomed to have helped them gain advantage?

Since the start of the tournament, both Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca and Pep Guardiola have both mentioned the extreme heat.

Chelsea trained under the 37C before beating ES Tunis 3-3 in Philadelphia as a group.

Maresca claimed last week that the weather makes it nearly impossible to train or attend a session, while Guardiola stated before last Thursday’s match against Juventus that his players must be prepared to “suffer” in the challenging heat of Orlando.

Due to the soaring temperatures in the United States, competitions across the board have started using water breaks during matches.

Not all players, however, have had a difficult game.

Vitinho, a two-year player for Botafogo at Burnley, described the high temperatures as “we’re used to it.”

Another factor to take into account is the fact that all four Brazilian teams have abandoned their domestic competitions from March until December.

Teams from Europe entered the Club World Cup after spending long seasons, despite their freshness and sharpness.

15 days after PSG defeated Inter Milan 55-0 in the Champions League final in Munich, PSG’s first game against Atletico Madrid was on June 15 in Pasadena.

Vickery continues, “The Flamengo president recently said to a mate that we’re flying in the middle of the season.”

Is the end of the season in the eyes of the European clubs? Is it the start of the season? The European clubs haven’t been planning as well as they should right now.

Vickery thinks there should be another topic of discussion about Brazilian clubs’ success.

He claims that “there is more money in Brazilian football” than before. Over the past few seasons, the standard has increased. The influx of foreign coaches is one cause.

“Of the four Brazilian clubs here, only two have Portuguese coaches: Renato Paiva and Palmeiras, respectively.

Brazilian football has a lot of Portuguese and Argentine coaches, and it has given them more ideas. Even Filipe Luis, the Brazilian coach at Flamengo, and his backup team are all Spanish.

There is a new idea openness that wasn’t present a few years ago.

Mendonca continues, “South American teams have a great opportunity to win this competition.” They are physically very well-prepared for this season, which is in full swing.

They now have better conditions to retain their talented players and even re-establish some of them. For instance, Flamengo signed Jorginho after leaving Arsenal, while Juventus signed Danilo and Alex Sandro.

For this competition, they have also retained Igor Jesus, according to Botafogo. He will then travel to Nottingham Forest.

At the Club World Cup, hundreds of thousands of fans have traveled from Brazil to cheer on their respective clubs.

Their presence has been a tournament highlight thus far, with lively atmospheres at each of their games.

Vickery believes that the club’s performances will have no impact on how Carlo Ancelotti’s side performs next year despite the fact that Brazil have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

The strength of national teams like Colombia and Uruguay are what the performances of Brazilian clubs highlight, he adds.

“Many of their best players are not Brazilians,” according to Palmeiras, Botafogo, Flamengo, and Fluminense.

Brazilian football now treats the rest of South America in the same manner as European football treats Brazil. Two of Colombia’s midfielders, Jhon Arias of Fluminense and Richard Rios of Palmeiras, are available.

The goals for Botafogo against PSG were scored by Paraguay’s Gustavo Gomez, a center-back, and Palmeiras’ Jefferson Savarino, a Venezuelan.

After that, they almost lost their place in Brazil’s top flight last year, just to avoid the humiliation of competing in the Club World Cup and second-tier competition.

They have won 57 medals, including three Copa Libertadores, the equivalent of the Champions League in South America. Most recently, they won Brazil in 2023.