Brazil legend Pele has paid tribute to Richarlison, telling the forward to "never change" after the Selecao were knocked out of the World Cup.

Pre-tournament favourites Brazil crashed out of the tournament in Qatar when they were beaten by Croatia at the quarter-final stage on Friday.

Tite's side had hoped to earn their sixth World Cup title before they suffered heartbreak, prompting Richarlison to post an apology to fans on social media.

But Pele - who has been hospitalised amid the tournament back home in Sao Paulo - has offered his encouragement to the 25-year-old, crediting him for his resolve.

"Just keep on keeping on kid," he wrote underneath the former Everton man's Instagram post. "And never change. You made Brazil smile."

Richarlison - who departed the tournament with three goals to his name, including a sensational overhead kick against Serbia in the group stage - emotionally reflected on a missed opportunity.

"Writing this is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," he penned. "This is a wound that will stay open forever, because we all know the chances we had to get that title.

"My friends and I are going to have to live with it. Some (or many) won't even get another chance. Now it's time to lick our wounds, apologise to all of you and get our head straight."

Brazil's exit represents their fifth successive shortfall in the World Cup, with the Selecao having only reached the semi-finals once since they last won the tournament in 2002.

Croatia will play Argentina next week in the first semi-final, with the 2018 runners-up looking to make feature in back-to-back finals.

Neymar wants to take time to "mourn" Brazil's World Cup exit as he hailed the team's youngsters for stepping up in the Selecao's penalty shoot-out loss to Croatia.

Brazil, the pre-tournament favourites, are heading out after going down 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw with the 2018 runners-up at Education City Stadium.

Neymar opened the scoring with a wonderful goal midway through extra time on Friday, a strike that took him level with the great Pele on 77 goals for Brazil.

Yet Bruno Petkovic scored with four minutes remaining, with Rodrygo and Marquinhos failing to convert their penalties as Brazil's wait for a sixth world title rolled on.

Neymar did not take a spot-kick, though perhaps would have been in line to take Brazil's fifth had it gone that far.

He had nothing but praise for the team-mates that stepped up, as the 30-year-old conceded he was unsure what is next for Brazil, who will have a new coach after Tite confirmed his time in charge had come to an end.

"The feeling is really bad. It's worse today than what happened in the past," Neymar said.

"Unfortunately, it's hard to find words to describe this moment. We tried, we fought, and I'm proud of all my team-mates.

"I'm proud of their personality, of taking the penalty, of their character, because it's not easy to assume that responsibility.

"Rodrygo is a very young boy and every time they came in and played, I always told them: 'This responsibility is mine, I'm the oldest, you have to play football.' 

"But he's so out of the curve, he's an ace, and he wanted to take responsibility for the penalty. You can only miss if you hit. Unfortunately, the ball did not go in.

"Not only him, but we will all learn from this. I don't know what will happen from now on in the Brazilian team, but now it's time to mourn."

Neymar had been in tears at full-time, and had to be consoled by team-mates on the field.

Richarlison, meanwhile, was crying as he spoke to reporters well over an hour after the final whistle.

"I think we did almost everything right," Richarlison said. "Unfortunately, we will not crown the excellent work we built. Now it's time to suffer a little.

"I have to apologise to our family members and our fans who believed in us until the end. Now it's time to go to the bedroom and cry because we are human beings, we are flesh and blood. We suffered a very painful defeat."

Brazil produced the best display of Qatar 2022 so far with an emphatic 4-1 victory over South Korea at Stadium 974 on Monday to set up a quarter-final tie with Croatia.

The Selecao were four goals up inside 36 minutes – only the second time in their World Cup history they have scored four times in the first half of a match – in a one-sided tie.

Neymar returned to Brazil's line-up – back to full strength after their 1-0 loss to Cameroon – and he netted from the penalty spot after Vinicius Junior had opened the scoring.

Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta put the game well out of reach and there was no way back for South Korea, though they did have a moment so savour courtesy of Paik Seung-ho's goal in the second half.

Raphinha pulled the ball back for Vinicius to curl into the top-right corner after seven minutes and Brazil had a quickfire second goal when Neymar converted from the penalty spot.

Richarlison won that penalty after being caught by Jung Woo-young, and he was himself among the goals when finishing after Thiago Silva picked him out with a first-time pass.

Brazil were completely out of sight by the interval as Paqueta rounded off another fine attack that culminated in Vinicius clipping the ball into his path to volley home.

A double change at the interval led to an improved display from South Korea, who after forcing Alisson into a few saves scored through a long-range Paik strike that took a deflection.

What does it mean? Samba stars put on a show

Brazil toiled for large parts of their wins over Serbia and Switzerland prior to suffering a shock defeat to Cameroon, but back at full strength here they laid down a real marker.

South Korea's first knockout-stage game in this competition since 2010 could not have gone much worse, with Tite's men out of sight well before half-time.

Five-time winners Brazil have advanced from their past eight World Cup last-16 ties and will now face 2018 beaten finalists Croatia, who earlier defeated Japan on penalties.

Brazil find their scoring touch

Brazil scored a rather underwhelming three goals from 57 shots in the group stage, compared to three goals from their first five efforts against South Korea.

The Selecao were a lot more clinical than they were in the first round, though their opponents' set-up also played right into their hands – a mistake Croatia will surely not make.

Returning Neymar back among the goals

Neymar was back in the side after missing the past two games through injury and he registered his 76th goal for Brazil, placing him one short of Pele's all-time record.

The Paris Saint-Germain superstar, whose past six goals for the Selecao have come from the penalty spot, will look to match and surpass the Brazil great in Qatar.

What's next?

Brazil have that quarter-final tie with Croatia to look forward to in Al Rayyan on Friday, while South Korea's campaign in Qatar is now over.

Richarlison believes God recognised his effort to get to the World Cup, as the Brazil forward turned his focus to Monday's clash with Switzerland.

Tottenham attacker Richarlison scored both of the Selecao's goals in their opening 2-0 win over Serbia on Thursday.

After bundling in a rebound, Richarlison scored the goal of the tournament so far to double Brazil's tally, sending an acrobatic attempt into the left-hand corner.

Richarlison has scored nine goals in his last seven appearances for Brazil in all competitions, becoming the eighth Brazilian to score a brace on his World Cup debut, and first since Neymar in 2014.

Since his debut for the national side in September 2018, Richarlison has scored more goals in all competitions for Brazil than any other player (19).

However, his World Cup participation was in doubt when he suffered a calf injury while in action for Spurs against his former side Everton in October.

"A few weeks ago, I was crying, not sure if it would come," Richarlison said, as quoted by the CBF's official website.

"On the day of the exam, it was one of the longest days of my life. I remember it was a day off and I went for the exam, I stayed on the stretcher waiting for the result to come out.

"The doctors went back and forth, I got nervous and time went slowly.

"So, I think it was worth all the effort in my recovery. God saw my effort, saw how much I wanted to come to the World Cup.

"That's it, now it's time to continue. We did the main thing, which was to win the first game, which is very important. Now it's time to think about the second game and rest well. It was the first, now there are six more important games."

Brazil are favourites to top Group G, but Switzerland will be no pushovers. They won their first match too, beating Cameroon 1-0 thanks to Breel Embolo's goal.

Switzerland are looking to win their opening two games at a World Cup for the first time. They last won consecutive games in the competition in 2006 against Togo and South Korea.

Brazil will be without Neymar, however, with their talisman having suffered an ankle injury against Serbia that will see him miss the meeting with Switzerland, though coach Tite was confident the Paris Saint-Germain star will feature again in Qatar.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brazil – Vinicius Junior

Richarlison rightly took the limelight for his efforts against Serbia, but he is not the only quality attacker Brazil have at their disposal.

With Neymar out, the onus will be on Vinicius Junior – who has shown his world-class ability at Real Madrid – to step up.

Before he was taken off inside the final 15 minutes of Thursday's match, Vinicius had been involved of 50 per cent of Brazil's 16 shots, having four attempts himself and creating as many chances, including the assist for Richarlison's stunning second.

Switzerland – Breel Embolo

Embolo has scored in three of his last four matches for Switzerland, with all three of his strikes being the winner in each game.

The last Swiss player to score in consecutive World Cup games was Alexander Frei in 2006, while the only players to score in Switzerland's first two games at a World Cup are Leopold Kielholz in 1934 and Andre Abegglen in 1938.

PREDICTION

Brazil are unbeaten in their last 16 group stage games at the World Cup, and they are aiming to become the first team to go 17 without defeat in the group stages of the competition.

Opta's model backs them to do just that, giving Brazil a 62.7 per cent chance of victory.

The probability of a draw is 21 per cent, while Opta rate the likelihood of a Switzerland win at 16.3 per cent.

Casemiro is confident Brazil can get by without Neymar for now as he backed "the star of the team" to get fit in time for the business end of the World Cup.

An ankle ligament injury forced Neymar to be substituted late on in Brazil's 2-0 win over Serbia on Thursday, as they got their Qatar 2022 campaign under way.

Richarlison scored both of Brazil's goals, and the Tottenham striker's form is one factor that gives holding midfielder Casemiro heart.

Neymar will certainly miss the game against Switzerland on Monday, and most likely the clash with Cameroon on Friday.

Whether he can recover in time to feature in the knock-out stages remains to be seen, but Brazil are optimistic.

Casemiro, quoted by Brazilian newspaper Globo, said: "If we keep talking about Neymar, we'll stay here for days, because of his importance.

"He's the star of the team, who makes the difference. But we have other similar players: Raphinha, Vini [Vinicius Junior], Richarlison. We have a wide range of options.

"Neymar is one of the best in the world, and unfortunately he will not be in the next game, but we have quality players to replace him, but of course not at his level."

Casemiro cited Lucas Paqueta of West Ham as a player who might come into the starting line-up and bring added verve in Neymar's absence.

"He is another important player," Casemiro said. "Very dynamic, modern. He plays outside, inside, false nine."

Defender Danilo is also on the Brazil sidelines for now, but Manchester United star Casemiro is backing both to pull out all the stops to be back in contention for Tite's starting side.

"Danilo and Neymar are working morning, afternoon and night, making the greatest effort in the world. They know they are important," Casemiro said.

"We have great professionals and health comes first. They will do everything to return 100 per cent as soon as possible."

France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris believes Richarlison has proven his qualities for Brazil, silencing his doubters with a double against Serbia.

Richarlison was the star of the show for Brazil in Doha on Thursday, as Tite's team started their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory at Lusail Stadium.

The Tottenham forward tucked in an opportunistic opener in the 62nd minute, before lashing an acrobatic attempt into the left-hand corner to seal the victory in style.

Brazil's win was marred by an ankle injury for Neymar, though Tite was confident the Paris Saint-Germain star would recover.

Asked about his Spurs team-mate, as well as Neymar's injury, while previewing France's Group D clash with Denmark, Lloris said: "Neymar is an icon in global football, but I'm not going to talk about him that much, I don't know how serious the injury is.

"For Richarlison, I'm delighted for him, he's not one of the better-known players in the Brazil squad and maybe not everyone expected to be in XI, but he's a great player, a great goalscorer – as he proved with the first goal but then a wonderful second goal.

"[It was] spectacular, and the best goal of the tournament so far, so that's great for him.

"We know how good a team Brazil is, they're favourites. They'll be delighted to win the first game, that's what they needed to do, to get out on the front foot."

Holders France can seal their place in the last 16 by beating Denmark on Saturday, though they go into that match having lost their last two meetings with the Danes, both of those defeats coming in this year's Nations League.

Lloris said: "It gives you an idea of the level of this Danish team, it's an excellent side and capable of beating the best.

"It's been a wake-up for us, we can't say we don't know them and we don't need extra motivation, [it's] a decisive game for qualification. If you look at the first games between Tunisia and Denmark, you can see that we have a lot of work to do. Every team is in a good place."

"They are underestimated," France coach Didier Deschamps said of Denmark, who have kept a clean sheet in three of their last five World Cup games.

"We're talking about just between June and September where they beat us twice and made life difficult. We have to make sure that's not the case. It's not a question of revenge, we know their players, they know us.

"We'll learn from those experiences but Denmark can learn too."

Tite admitted it was a tough call to pick a starting striker, but he was thrilled with the performance of Richarlison after netting both of Brazil's goals in their 2-0 victory against Serbia on Thursday.

Richarlison got the nod at number nine ahead of Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus and Flamengo's Pedro, and after a scoreless first half, he was on hand to prod home the opener in the 62nd minute after Vinicius Junior's shot was parried into his path.

That would just be the appetiser, as just 10 minutes later he produced what will be a contender for goal of the tournament as he controlled Vinicius' shin-high cross with his left foot, popping it up in the air before acrobatically spinning and volleying it home over his shoulder with his right boot.

It was his 19th senior international goal, to go with 88 club goals in his career, and after the match he said he believes it could be his best.

"It was a beautiful goal," he told reporters. "Probably one of the nicest in all of my career.

"It's the World Cup, it was a tough match… it was one of the nicest goals I have ever scored."

Tite spoke about how agonising it was to choose between the wealth of forward talent at his disposal, but also of how impressed he was by Richarlison, particularly in the second half.

"I must tell you, I had six or seven names to call [as striker], and whoever I called, we would have had a great team," Tite said. 

"So we came with Pedro, Richarlison and Gabriel. We could have had [Gabriel] Barbosa, we could have had Firmino, we could have had [Matheus] Cunha, we could have had Hulk. We have a huge number, and you have to pick someone.

"Richarlison is fantastic, we see how he controls the ball… in the second half he created a lot of volume, he adjusted, he calmed down a little bit, he was more precise in his passes.

"The first touch of the ball is crucial to make it flow, and then he started with volume, volume, volume of plays."

When asked if he was potentially disappointed with how much of a struggle things were early on, Tite made it clear he does not view Serbia as an easy fixture.

"Serbia were very, very good, very quick in the first half," he said. "But here, you have to keep that rhythm, and keep that level of marking during the entire match.

"They ended the first half very quick, very good technical skill, they were able to start the ball and put it into play quickly, and we weren't able to stop them from putting the ball into play.

"They are a team, which in the qualifiers they took out Portugal, and in a very consistent manner they played in the qualifiers with opponents at a very high level. They are a great team, and we were able to control them in both halves. We were able to produce more offensively in the second half because of our fine-tuning.

"They had very, very high quality. There was always a lot of pressure, so it did require a lot from us."

Brazil will continue their campaign in Group G on Monday when they take on Switzerland, before closing their group stage against Cameroon next Friday.

Richarlison scored twice as Brazil opened their World Cup campaign with a routine 2-0 win over Serbia.

The Tottenham forward broke the deadlock with a close-range finish just after the hour mark at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Richarlison then sealed the points with a stunning acrobatic effort 17 minutes from time as Tite's side made a winning start in Group G.

The Selecao remain unbeaten in their opening match at the finals since 1934, when they lost 3-1 to Spain in the first round.

Unbeaten in their past 15 World Cup group games, Brazil controlled the first half, but without creating many goalscoring opportunities.

Casemiro tested Vanja Milinkovic-Savic with an ambitious effort from distance, while the Serbia goalkeeper was quickly off his line to prevent Vinicius Junior latching onto Thiago Silva's precise throughball.

The Selecao carved their opponents' defence open with a neat one-two between Raphinha and Lucas Paqueta in the 35th minute, but the Barcelona forward could only shoot straight at Milinkovic-Savic.

Brazil carried a greater threat after the break. Milinkovic-Savic rescued Serbia by denying Raphinha, who had dispossessed Nemanja Gudelj outside his own penalty area, while Neymar fired wide from close range.

Alex Sandro rattled the post from 30 yards before the Samba Boys finally broke through in the 62nd minute; Richarlison prodding home the rebound after Milinkovic-Savic parried Vinicius' initial effort. 

Richarlison then gave Brazil breathing space in emphatic fashion 11 minutes later; controlling Vinicius' low, hard cross with his left foot, before swivelling and sending a magnificent acrobatic volley flying into the bottom corner with his right.

Tite's side almost increased their advantage as Casemiro hit the crossbar and Milinkovic-Savic denied Rodrygo, but the two-goal margin was enough to lift them to the Group G summit.

Raphinha hopes Brazil will have reason to dance in celebration at the World Cup as he joked Tite's side have 10 routines rehearsed for goals.

Brazil are among the tournament favourites in Qatar ahead of their Group G opener on Thursday against Serbia as the Selecao aim for a first World Cup triumph since 2002.

Barcelona winger Raphinha was one of many to celebrate in support of Vinicius Junior, who was told in September by a Spanish journalist to stop dancing "to respect your mates and stop playing the monkey".

Gabriel Jesus, Neymar and Richarlison – all members of Tite's 26-man squad in the Middle East – were other notable supporters of Brazil team-mate Vinicius.

Raphinha appears a likely contender to start for the five-time world champions and he intends to give Brazil further reason to celebrate in style at the World Cup.

"To tell you the truth, we already have dances prepared for up to the 10th goal," an upbeat Raphinha said on Monday.

"We have some 10 dances prepared for each match, one for the first, one for the second, one for the third ... If we score more than 10, then we'll have to start innovating."

Pedro, Antony and Gabriel Martinelli are the other attacking options at Tite's disposal and Raphinha has no doubts Brazil will go out to play free-flowing football.

"With Vinicius we gain more speed on the attack, while with [Lucas] Paqueta we have more control near the midfield," former Leeds United forward Raphinha added.

"But Brazil has a characteristic of always being offensive-minded, no matter who gets to play."

Richarlison, like Raphinha, will be a World Cup debutant for Brazil after scoring 17 goals in his 38 appearances for the Selecao since his debut in 2018.

The Tottenham striker wants to produce performances befitting of the number-nine shirt handed to him as he aims to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Ronaldo Nazario.

"When you wear the number nine jersey with the Brazilian national team, all you want to do is score goals," Richarlison said. "With these team-mates, I'm sure the goals will come."

Neymar came into criticism for posting a photo with six stars on his shorts, referencing a hopeful Brazil triumph at the World Cup, but Richarlison has no problem admitting the Selecao's hopes.

"We are dreamers, we are going after this sixth star no matter what people are going to say," he added.

Richarlison says Brazil's players "will do everything" they can to win a record-extending sixth World Cup in Qatar.

Brazil are steeped in World Cup history, with more titles than any other country, though their fifth and most recent triumph came in 2002.

Tite's men head into the tournament in Qatar as one of the favourites having lost just one match since 2019, their Copa America final defeat to Argentina last year.

Richarlison will be playing in his first World Cup, having scored 17 goals in his 38 appearances for the Selecao since his debut in 2018.

The 25-year-old says he and his team-mates will do all they can to bring home the trophy, telling Eurosport: "If we will win? I don't know, but we will do everything to win the World Cup.

"I prefer that we work in silence, doing our job and doing our best every day. Certainly, Professor Tite [head coach] will prepare us well for a great World Cup."

The Tottenham forward believes Brazil deserve to be among the most fancied teams and is confident they will make an impression in Qatar, saying: "I think there are a lot of good teams, but we are Brazil.

"We have a lot of history, we've never been out of the World Cup and we're going to the World Cup to honour the shirt. We're definitely going to get something good for us."

Despite his belief in Brazil's prospects, Richarlison acknowledged other sides he feels have a chance, adding: "There are a lot of good teams.

"The defending champions, France. Belgium, for example, and Argentina, which has a good squad and won the Copa America."

Brazil open their World Cup campaign against Serbia on Thursday, before facing Switzerland and Cameroon in Group G.

Richarlison could make his Tottenham return in Wednesday's EFL Cup trip to Nottingham Forest after recovering from a calf injury, Spurs' assistant coach Cristian Stellini has confirmed.

Richarlison suffered the injury in Tottenham's 2-0 win over his former club Everton last month and subsequently said he was worried about missing Brazil's World Cup campaign.

However, the forward was included in Tite's 26-man squad for the Selecao's campaign in Qatar on Monday, and he could feature at the City Ground after returning to training this week.

"Richarlison started training with the team yesterday," Stellini said on Tuesday. "For us, it's great news.

"We've missed Richarlison, like we've missed [Dejan] Kulusevski and everyone we've missed in this last month.

"He's only just started to train with us, we can use him, but we have to be careful, and we work day by day to take the right decision."

Spurs have battled an injury crisis in recent weeks, only welcoming Kulusevski back from a hamstring injury on Sunday, while Son Heung-min sustained a fracture around his left eye last week.

Stellini warned of the need to manage players' minutes as the end of a congested pre-World Cup schedule nears, adding: "Antonio [Conte] will take the decision tomorrow for the squad.

"It's not only Richarlison or Kulusevski, but also, we've played 11 matches [since October 1] and many players maybe have a small problem or fatigue to recover [from].

"Kulusevski came back in the last match and has been an important player for us for a long time. We are really happy to use him again. 

"He's an important player, like all the players we have, because in this type of schedule, full of matches, all the players are important."

Antonio Conte is worried Dejan Kulusevski may not feature for Tottenham before the World Cup after the winger suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Kulusevski has not featured for Spurs since last month's 6-2 thrashing of Leicester City, having sustained the injury while on international duty with Sweden – who failed to qualify for the tournament in Qatar.

While the form of Richarlison initially allowed Spurs to cope with Kulusevski's absence, the Brazil attacker limped out of a 2-0 win over his former club Everton last week, leaving Conte short on forward options.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's clash with Newcastle United, Conte said of Kulusevski: "I think we have to wait a bit of time to see him with us, it is the same for Richarlison.

"For sure, this type of situation creates a big, big difficulty. It's normal. For me, also fingers crossed because at the moment we have Harry [Kane] and Sonny [Son Heung-min] in good health.

"I hope they continue to stay that way, or I'll have to think about putting my shoes on to play, me!

"When you go to play Champions League, especially if you play in the Premier League, you have to know that you're going to have a difficult season for injuries, for massive games, for players who become tired."

Asked whether he is concerned Kulusevski may not recover before the Premier League breaks for the World Cup next month, Conte said: "Yes, because his recovery was going well and then one day the situation worsened.

"Then when this type of situation happens, you have to restart. You need time, but we have the medical department to face injury situations, and they have to solve the situation in a short period. If you are able to solve the situation in a short period, it means points in the table."

Tottenham have lost two of their last four Premier League games (W2), suffering as many defeats in that spell as they did in their previous 21 matches in the competition.

Wednesday's 2-0 reverse at Manchester United represented the first time Spurs have failed to score in a Premier League game this season, and led Conte to declare the two sides were operating on "different levels".

Asked whether Tottenham needed to sign another creative presence in the January transfer window, Conte said the club would assess their options during the World Cup break.

"Now, we have to try to finish this period, which for us is really tough," the Italian added. "You have important injuries and you have to face the situation in the best possible way. 

"Then we'll see. We have to arrive until the last game in November and then with the club we'll see the situation, if we have to do something or we continue in the same way."

Antonio Conte allayed fears of Richarlison missing the World Cup, but confirmed he will not be available for Tottenham's game with Manchester United on Wednesday.

Richarlison suffered a calf injury in Spurs' 2-0 victory over his former team Everton and was taken off in the 52nd minute before later being seen on crutches, causing concern he could face a race against time to be fit for Brazil's World Cup opener against Serbia on November 24.

In a tearful interview after the game, Richarlison told ESPN Brazil: "It's kind of hard to say because it's close to the realisation of my dream."

But when questioned over Richarlison potentially missing the World Cup, Conte had an optimistic message.

"The injury of Richarlison, he's [having] a scan and then we will see how long he needs to recover," Conte told reporters. "But for sure against United, he's not available.

"I can confirm that the player is not risking not playing the World Cup, absolutely."

Conte was unsure whether Richarlison's fellow forward Dejan Kulusevski would be fit for Wednesday's game at Old Trafford, after the Sweden international missed the Everton match with a hamstring injury.

"Kulusevski is working, we'll see," Conte added. "We have to go day by day with him.

"The medical department are working a lot to try to recover him, but we don't know about the game against United."

Tottenham forward Richarlison tearfully admitted he fears the injury sustained in Saturday's win over Everton could crush his dream of representing Brazil at the World Cup.

Richarlison was substituted early on in the second half of Spurs' 2-0 Premier League victory against his former side Everton at Goodison Park with a calf injury.

The 25-year-old left the stadium on crutches and will undergo an MRI scan on Monday, but he has already been ruled out of Wednesday's trip to Manchester United.

He missed a month of action last season with a similar injury and is now worried about a comparable lay-off, with Brazil facing Serbia in their tournament opener on November 24.

"It's so close to the realisation of my dream," he told ESPN Brasil with tears in his eyes. "I've already suffered a similar injury to this, but I hope it can heal as soon as possible.

"It's hard to talk at this moment, but let's see, I hope to recover. Monday, I have tests to do, but even walking hurts. Let's wait. I have to stay positive if I want to go to Qatar.

"It's all so close, it's about a month to go, and we've been getting ready, working every day so that nothing serious can happen. 

"Unfortunately, I had this calf injury, but now it's just a matter of waiting, doing the treatment every day so that I can recover as soon as possible."

Richarlison has scored just twice in 13 appearances since joining Tottenham from Everton, both of those goals coming against Marseille in the Champions League.

He has been capped 38 times for Brazil and has scored seven times in six appearances this year, making him a certainty to be named in the squad if fit.

Brazil boss Tite, spoiled for options in attack, has until November 14 to name his final 26-man squad – though most competing nations are expected to do so much before then.

Record five-time champions Brazil follow up their opener against Serbia with group games against Switzerland and Cameroon on November 28 and December 2 respectively.

Harry Kane has paid his respects to "truly remarkable man" Gian Piero Ventrone following the Tottenham fitness coach's death.

Tottenham confirmed on Thursday that Ventrone, who joined the club last November as part of Antonio Conte's backroom staff, had passed away.

Ventrone was nicknamed 'The Marine' because of his tough training sessions, yet he was well respected by Tottenham's players.

Kane was among those to pay tribute to Ventrone on social media, saying he will forever be grateful for the advice received from the Italian.

"A truly remarkable man. I'm devastated by the passing of our coach Gian Piero," Kane posted. "My love and strength is with his family at this time. 

"His words and wisdom will live on with me for the rest of my life and I'm just grateful I had the opportunity to spend time with him. RIP Prof."

Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Ventrone died on Thursday in Naples at the age of 62 after a battle with leukaemia.

Ventrone spent a decade at Juventus and also worked for Catania, JS Suning, GZ Evergrande and Ajaccio, prior to reuniting with Conte in north London.

He was credited with helping to drive a radical improvement in the Tottenham players' fitness, with forward Richarlison among those to benefit following his arrival from Everton.

"Since I arrived at Tottenham, Gian has been a huge inspiration to me," the Brazil international said. "He always said that I would help him a lot during the season.

"But who helped me was him... much more than he can imagine. Today we woke up to the terrible news of his passing and we are all devastated.

"We will continue to play for you, my friend, who taught us to never give up! Thank you so much and rest in peace!"

Ventrone had two stints at Juventus between 1996 and 1999 and 2001 and 2004, helping to shape the side that won the Champions League in the first of those spells.

The Italian giants paid their own tribute on Thursday in a statement on their official website.

The statement read: "We will always remember his attention to detail, his work philosophy, and perhaps his greatest talent, the understanding that football – and especially the fundamental components of conditioning and athleticism – was gradually entering a new era.

"A new era that, in part, he helped write."