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Brazil forward Vinicius Júnior has disclosed why he did not take his side’s first-half penalty in their 2026 World Cup Round of 16 defeat to the Norway national football team on Sunday.
Brazil were awarded a penalty after Matheus Cunha was brought down inside the box. However, Vinicius opted to hand the ball to Bruno Guimarães instead of taking the spot-kick himself.
Guimarães, however, failed to convert the opportunity as his effort was saved by Norway goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland.
Erling Haaland then netted twice in the second half to send Norway through to the quarter-finals.
“It was Ancelotti’s decision to give the penalty to Bruno,” Vinicius told reporters.
“The coach chooses who will take the penalty kick beforehand. He chose Bruno. I was never selfish; I never wanted to be the top scorer of the competition, and that’s why Bruno took it.
“He shoots better penalties than me, and that’s why the coach chose him. That’s it. I never shied away from responsibility.
“Many people will say I didn’t want to take it, but I never hid. I take penalties for Real Madrid when the coach chooses me.”
