Guimarães: "Haaland is a cunning footballer, he wants to shift the pressure onto Brazil"

Brazil national team midfielder Bruno Guimarães responded to Norwegian striker Erling Haaland's claim that Brazil are the main favorites in the 2026 World Cup playoffs.

He emphasized that Haaland, through these words, wants to remove the pressure from Norway and shift all the responsibility onto Brazil.

"Haaland expresses his thoughts very cunningly"

The Norwegian forward had labeled Brazil as the tournament's main favorite ahead of the Round of 16 clash between the two teams.

Guimarães, however, took this remark not as a simple compliment but as a psychological game.

"Haaland expresses his thoughts very cunningly. He wants to take the pressure off themselves and shift all the responsibility onto us," said the Brazilian footballer.

"Football is decided on the pitch"

Guimarães also emphasized that he doesn't pay too much attention to opposing players' statements.

"To be honest, what others say doesn't matter much to me. Football is decided on the pitch, it's played 11 against 11," he said.

In his opinion, the match will be intense and full of physical battles.

Norway's main weapon identified

The Brazilian midfielder also touched on Norway's strengths. In particular, the tall players in the opponent's squad and aerial deliveries could pose a serious threat to the Brazilians.

"They have their own strengths too. They have tall players and try to play with aerial deliveries. We need to act with intelligence," said Guimarães.

"Haaland is a cunning footballer"

Guimarães noted that Haaland is a footballer who knows how to put pressure on the opponent not only on the pitch but also before the game.

"Haaland is a cunning footballer. We need to be prepared for this," his words were quoted by Goal, citing Caze TV.

The winner of the Round of 16 match between Brazil and Norway will advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.