Neymar had the perfect response after Brazil knocked Japan out of the FIFA World Cup 2026, taking a playful swipe at German economist Joachim Klement, whose prediction model had tipped the Samurai Blue to produce one of the tournament’s biggest upsets.
Soon after Brazil’s dramatic 2-1 Round of 32 victory, Neymar posted on X: “Sr. Joachim Klement… favor tentar na proxima copa” (“Mr. Joachim Klement… please try again at the next World Cup”). The post quickly went viral, with fans celebrating both Brazil’s qualification for the quarter-finals and the failure of one of the tournament’s most closely followed predictions.
THE PREDICTION
Klement, a mathematician and economist, has built a reputation for his proprietary World Cup prediction model. Despite originally creating it to demonstrate how difficult forecasting football tournaments can be, the model correctly identified the last three World Cup winners – Germany in 2014, France in 2018 and Argentina in 2022.
Brazil vs Japan, FIFA World Cup 2026: Highlights | Report
In an interview with Fortune India before the tournament, Klement explained why he believed Japan could spring a surprise if they crossed paths with Brazil in the knockout stages.
“I don’t make predictions about individual matches in the group stage, but I do predict that we might get a match between Brazil and Japan in the last 32 and that Japan will win against Brazil. That sounds absurd to me at first, because Brazil is the world’s most successful team in history. Yet, the current generation of players is not at their best, while Japan has a very good team at the moment.”
BRAZIL PREVAIL
For much of the contest, Klement’s forecast looked well within reach.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side dominated possession but repeatedly invited trouble with sloppy defending. Japan capitalised on Brazil’s mistakes and threatened to force extra time, exposing the vulnerabilities Ancelotti had warned about throughout the tournament.
But Brazil found another gear when it mattered most. Teenager Rayan won possession high up the pitch before Bruno Guimaraes slipped Gabriel Martinelli through on goal. The Arsenal forward kept his composure to score a dramatic late winner, sealing a 2-1 victory and booking Brazil’s place in the quarter-finals.
The result ended Japan’s impressive World Cup run and left Neymar with the final word, as his tongue-in-cheek message to Klement became one of the standout social media moments of the tournament.
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