Vinícius's absence from the Brazilian national team's last few games has led some in Brazil to question his much-anticipated Ballon d'Or win.
Brazil has lost last few games with Vinícius in the team. Now the Canarinha has fixed the situation in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers without him. Two victories against Chile and Peru have cleared up their outlook.
Nobody Missed Vinícius
And it was Raphinha who had to lead Brazil's two victories in recent days. Nobody missed Vinícius. In fact, the Canarinha experienced a great improvement without him.
And Raphinha has excelled at the same level that Barcelona fans are used to, leading Brazil to victory.
Against Peru, he scored two goals through penalties. These were the first two goals for Brazil, which gave the canarinha peace of mind to improve their level of play. Even without Vinícius, Brazil won in Chile 2-1 and thus settled its qualification for the World Cup.
The Raphinha-Vinícius Comparison in Brazil
Raphinha has now scored nine goals and provided six assists in 29 games for Brazil's senior national team. He he's been involved in 15 goals in 1,970 minutes of play since his debut three years ago.
Vinícius made his debut for the Seleçao earlier, in 2019. He has already played 35 games, 2,135 minutes, with 5 goals and 5 assists.
The difference is truly significant. With six fewer games, Raphinha has scored more goals and provided more assists than Vinícius.
In 2024, Sport reports that Raphinha has scored 3 goals for Brazil and provided 1 assist. Vinícius has 2 goals and 1 assist.
It's clear that if Vinícius wins the Ballon d'Or it won't be because of his contribution to his national team. Of course, he hasn't been able to fill the gap left by Neymar's injury.
In his last 15 games with Brazil, Vinícius scored 3 goals, after going through a year without goals.
Raphinha Surpasses Vinícius in both Club and Country
But if Raphinha has greatly improved Vinícius's performance in the national team, he's also done so at his clubs. Raphinha has scored 6 goals and provided 6 assists in 11 games for Barça this year. Vinícius has scored 4 goals and provided 7 assists in 12 games.
There's no comparison. The Ballon d'Or will go to a player who's taken away more than what he added to his national team in the last year.
Raphinha knows this, so he's made it clear with his game to his teammate Rodrygo, who's already been sufficiently scalded with the Ballon d'Or. He's not among the 30 finalists.