UAE has a series of naturalized players from Brazil - Photo: REUTERS
China's failure
In 2007, then FIFA president Sepp Blatter said: "If we don't stop this farce, by the 2014 World Cup there will be 16 teams using all Brazilian players."
That was Blatter's criticism of the naturalization movement. Of course, it was a bit of an exaggeration, plus FIFA's efforts to create barriers in the following years.
However, in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Mr. Blatter's statement from years ago is gradually coming true. A series of Asian teams are spending heavily on naturalizing stars from Brazil in the hope of winning tickets to the World Cup.
First of all, we have to mention China, with 4 players of Brazilian origin: Elkeson, Alan, Fernandinho and Serginho.
All are over 30, joined the Super League during the crazy star shopping trend from 2013-2019. From around 2019-2021, most of these names are eligible to play for the Chinese team, according to the regulation of living for 5 years.
But the dream of naturalized stars in Chinese football quickly collapsed with the Super League "bubble". None of the above Brazilian players really made an impression.
A typical example is Elkeson. Despite scoring more than 150 goals for Chinese clubs in the past 9 years, Elkeson has only scored 4 goals in 19 appearances for the Chinese national team.
Since China entered the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Elkeson has not been called up to the national team. Alan and Fernandinho have not been called up to the national team since the beginning of 2025.
Elkeson could not shine in the Chinese shirt - Photo: GA
There is only one Brazilian player called up to the Chinese national team in this qualifying round, Serginho. This midfielder, who plays for Beijing Gouan, has only played once for the Chinese national team.
UAE follows in the footsteps of the past
China’s mistake is being repeated with the UAE team. This Middle Eastern football scene applies a similar method to China, when their clubs have been generous in bringing in foreign stars in the past 6-7 years.
During the gathering in March, UAE shocked the football world when they called up 8 players of Brazilian origin to the national team.
In this training session, coach Cosmin Olaroui still called up 7 players of Brazilian origin to the national team, in addition to 1 player of Ivory Coast origin, 1 of Croatian origin and 1 of French origin.
Despite having so many naturalized stars, the UAE has not been very successful in the World Cup qualifiers. They are currently ranked third in Group A, four points behind second-place Uzbekistan.
If they cannot beat Uzbekistan in the upcoming match, the UAE will say goodbye to their dream of officially qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, and will continue to enter the fourth stage of the qualifying round.
The consolation for the UAE is that at least they have one Brazilian star who knows how to shine. That is midfielder Fabio Lima. This 31-year-old player has scored 8 goals in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Similar to UAE, Qatar also has many naturalized stars from Brazil such as striker Edmilson, defender Lucas Mendes... Star Edmilson has not even scored a goal after 5 appearances for the team.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cac-ngoi-sao-brazil-bat-luc-o-vong-loai-world-cup-chau-a-20250603114036545.htm
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