Brazil captain Neymar mocked an economic expert who had predicted that the "Seleção" would be eliminated by Japan in the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, sending him a brief message reading: "Try again at the next World Cup."
Brazil reached the round of 16 after overturning a deficit against Japan to win 2-1 in Houston.
Joachim Klement, the economist who accurately predicted the winners of the last three World Cup editions — Germany in 2014, France in 2018, and Argentina in 2022 — had forecast that Brazil would face Japan in the round of 32 and lose to the Asian side.
Klement had argued that Japan would produce the biggest upset in World Cup history, based on an economic model that combines unconventional variables such as GDP per capita, population size, average temperature, home advantage, FIFA ranking points, and a luck factor.
The expert's report noted that Japan has a strong recent record against major national teams, including a previous victory over Germany and a 3-2 win over Brazil in a friendly match played in October 2025.
Neymar, who did not start the match and only came on as a substitute in Brazil's 3-0 win over Scotland, wrote on his X account: "Mr. Joachim Klement… try again at the next World Cup."
The post by Brazil's all-time top scorer generated significant engagement on X, drawing reactions from those mocking the economist's predictions as well as those criticising Neymar himself, who was called up by Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti for the North American finals despite carrying an injury.