Brazil have a star-studded squad for the 2026 World Cup.
Carlo Ancelotti had a lot of decisions to make and it meant some big names were left out. There were also omissions due to injuries. The biggest was arguably Rodrygo, who suffered an ACL injury to rule him out. Estevao is also absent due to injury.
That led to questions being asked of who will start on the wing for Brazil. The main options are Raphinha, Rayan, Vinicius Jr, Gabriel Martinelli and Luiz Henrique. Endrick is also an option, but he may get more luck through the middle.
So, who should be Brazil’s starting wingers? We used our Comparison Matrix to assess four of the options.
Who should start on the wing for Brazil?
Creativity
Naturally, the first job for a winger will be to provide the creative danger from out wide. To supplement the Brazil’s central attacking output, from the striker and the No.10.
Raphinha had a fantastic season for Barcelona in La Liga and, unsurprisingly, leads a lot of the key winger metrics. And even in the metrics he doesn’t win, Raphinha isn’t too far behind. The Barcelona man sits clear for his open-play passes completed, averaging 32 per 90 minutes. Vinicius Jr ranks second among this quartet, with 29.2 open-play passes per 90.
While having the ability to deliver on set-pieces is important, wingers are judged most on what they can do from open play. And rightly so. So Martinelli’s 0.7 open-play crosses completed per 90 stands out, ahead of Raphinha’s 0.6. But there’s a big difference between the crosses completed and attempted numbers. That’s because it’s so hard for a cross to be marked as completed. And sometimes just putting the ball into the danger area is good enough. So Raphinha shines again with his 4.8 crosses attempted per 90, with 26.03% accuracy.
Vinicius Jr has the better overall passing accuracy, at 83.2%, and Raphinha again comes in second on 81.12%. Both of the Premier League wingers, Rayan and Martinelli, have passing accuracies lower than 80%. Martinelli does come out on top for assists, though, with 0.4 per 90. His three compatriots all averaged 0.2 assists per 90.
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Dribbling
A winger’s creativity often goes hand in hand with their ability to beat an opposition full-back. Not all wingers are the take-on masters, but it’s a big weapon to have in the arsenal.
Vinicius Jr comes out on top for take-ons in 2025-26. The Real Madrid man is one of the best dribblers in world football, even when he’s having underwhelming seasons by his own standard. In 2025-26, Vinicius Jr averaged 2.8 completed take-ons per 90 in Lia Liga, leading this pack by some distance. Martinelli was his closest challenger, completing 1.7 of his attempted take-ons in the Premier League. And the Arsenal man has the best success rate, completing 55.56% of his attempted take-ons. Raphinha is the only other player to complete at least half of his take-ons (51.22%). Rayan has the least success on 38.24%.
Vinicius Jr is also fouled a lot. Sometimes that’s the only way opponents can stop him. The Real Madrid man averaged 2.6 fouls won per 90 in La Liga last season, more than the other three combined. Martinelli won just 1.2 fouls per 90, while Raphinha (0.7) and Rayan (0.5) weren’t as fortunate. On the other side, though, Vinicius Jr lost possession more times than any other player. Possession lost numbers are generally high with wingers and attacking players because they’re taking the most risks on the ball. But eyes will look at Rayan’s 12.2 possession lost per 90 as a positive compared to the rest, not that he’s taking fewer risks.
Goal threat
The last key string in a winger’s bow will be actual goal threat. Managers don’t want to rely solely on their strikers for goals. And that will very much be the case at Brazil this summer, with Matheus Cunha and Igor Thiago the main striking options.
Raphinha is Brazil’s best output here. He averaged 3.2 shots (excluding blocks) per 90 in La Liga last season, beating Vinicius Jr’s 2.4. The Barcelona man also won the battle for shots on target per 90, rounding up to 1.6 per 90, to Vinicius Jr’s 1.5. But, Vinicius Jr was more accurate with his efforts, hitting the target with 61.33% of his shots. Martinelli was the only other Brazil winger to hit the target with at least half of his shots.
But Raphinha made the most of his efforts. Even with the increased shot-rate, Raphinha wasn’t wasting his opportunities. He scored 0.9 goals per 90, the most of these Brazil wingers. Vinicius Jr put in a respectable 0.6 goals per 90, while Rayan’s 0.5 goals per 90 for Bournemouth was good too. Raphinha had top-quality conversion rate, though, scoring with 20% of his efforts. Strikers would be happy to post those numbers.
Raphinha and Vinicius Jr both got into the box the most too, averaging 10.4 and 7.2 touches in the opposition box per 90. It’s they likely get the nod with Raphinha on the right, with Vinicius Jr on the left. The pair can do it all, and are among the best wingers in the world.
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