Brazil assistant coach Davide Ancelotti has tipped Chelsea's 18-year-old winger Estevao Willian to be the surprise package at the summer's World Cup.
Former Bayern Munich and Real Madrid assistant manager Ancelotti will be part of his father Carlo's Brazil coaching staff at the tournament taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July.
"The guy that will surprise you is someone that is not so well known," Ancelotti told BBC Radio 5 Live's Euro Leagues podcast.
"We have a lot of attacking players. We have a lot of talent and a lot of different profiles. And if I have to give you a name, Estevao is one of the rising talents of Brazil."
The highly rated teenager has scored eight goals and provided four assists in 34 appearances for Chelsea after joining from Palmeiras last summer for an initial fee of £29m, agreed in 2024.
Estevao missed Brazil's recent friendlies against France and Croatia having only returned from a hamstring injury for Chelsea against Everton right before the international break on 21 March.
But he was on the scoresheet in Chelsea's 7-0 win against Port Vale in the FA Cup quarter-final last weekend.
"He is a really big talent," said Ancelotti of Estevao, who made his Brazil debut at the age of 17 in September 2024 and has five goals in 11 caps.
"He is a really good finisher, so he is someone that can dominate in Europe as a talent for the next years."
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'Neymar still has a chance'
Before moving to England, Estevao scored 27 goals and provided 15 assists in 83 games for Palmeiras, surpassing Brazil legend Neymar's record at Santos to become the first under-18 player to record a combined 20 goals and assists in the Brazilian top flight.
But Estevao's hopes of playing a World Cup alongside his childhood idol remains a doubt after Neymar, 33, was left out of Brazil's last set of friendlies before their World Cup squad is announced.
The former Barcelona and Paris St-Germain attacker returned to Santos in January 2025 and helped his boyhood club avoid relegation last season, but has not played for Brazil since 2023 amid his struggles with injuries.
He was due to make his return to the national team last year after a 17-month absence but was forced to withdraw from the squad with a muscle injury.
"At the end, it is a decision of the manager that he will take and he has time to take it," Ancelotti said.
"The final list will be out on 18 May. Of course, he is the top scorer of the national team and he has a chance. He has a time to do his best and try to get into the list."
Brazil’s all-time top scorer Neymar has 79 goals in 128 appearances, eclipsing greats like Pele, Ronaldo, Romario and Zico.
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'Vinicius best player in the world'
One player who will carry Brazil's World Cup hopes on his shoulders is Vinicius Jr.
The forward has eight goals in 47 appearances for Brazil and has been influential for Real Madrid again this campaign with 11 goals in La Liga and five more in the Champions League.
"Vinicius is a football star because of his talent," Ancelotti said.
"He's one of the most talented players in the world, so he carries this weight because everyone expects him to win the game alone and the expectations on him are higher than any other player – maybe only Kylian Mbappe right now."
The 25-year-old has also had to deal with discrimination since moving to Spain, where he has faced 20 incidents of alleged abuse in eight years.
The latest incident came in Real Madrid’s Champions League knockout phase play-off tie at Benfica in February, following which the Brazilian winger said “racists are cowards”.
"Having a manager like my father is really good – in being close to the stars," the Brazil assistant said.
"We just focused on what he [Vinicius] could improve and he has room for improvement. Even if he's one of the best, maybe personal opinion, the best player in the world, but everyone has room for improvement.
"So we focus on that because we have a manager who is a specialist in making stars not feel alone and he always did that with stars like Didier Drogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski."
Ancelotti, 36, held discussions to take charge of Scottish side Rangers last season before taking up his first managerial role at Brazilian side Botafago – only to be sacked five months later in December 2025.
The Italian, however, has continued to work with his father, who was named Brazil boss in May 2025 after four years at Real Madrid, where he won three Champions League titles and two La Liga titles over two spells.
Five-time World Cup winners Brazil have not lifted the trophy since their last triumph in 2002 but Ancelotti believes the Selecao "will be ready for the World Cup".
"It will be difficult because it will be after a really long season," said Ancelotti.
"There are players that will reach the World Cup with more than 60 games and this is not good. It will be not good for the show or the people that are watching.
"So we will take care of the players physically. It will be important because the weather will be so hot. It will be a competition that will be decided by small details.
"But I can say that we have a really competitive team that can play football that could be efficient in a competition like that. So we are positive."
Brazil will face Morocco in their World Cup opener on 13 June in New Jersey before taking on Scotland and Haiti in Group C.
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