The first half had already crept into stoppage time in Brazil’s friendly against Croatia. The match still goalless. That was, until Matheus Cunha picked out a pass to Vinicius Junior, who drove at the defence and squared the ball towards the penalty spot. Waiting there was Danilo, ready for the kind of moment of which so many of us have dreamed.
In that instant, the midfielder seemed to have been transported from Orlando back to Fazenda Coutos, the community in Salvador where he first learned to play the game. It was as if, just for a moment, he had gone back to the days when he would play barefoot. Without taking a touch, he effortlessly picked out the top corner to score his first goal for the Brazilian national team.
“When I’m on the pitch, I don’t think about anything else,” Danilo told FIFA. “I feel completely free. It doesn’t matter what’s happening in the match, who we’re playing against, whether we’re playing well or not. I always feel at ease – like I’m having a kickabout back in Fazenda Coutos, just enjoying a game, playing with my dog, Pit. Everything feels very natural out there.”
That goal was the defining moment of an international window that placed Danilo firmly on the radar of Carlo Ancelotti. At 25, the Botafogo midfielder finds himself in a race against time to secure a place in Brazil’s final squad for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, set to be announced on 18 May.
“It’s very difficult, especially in the Seleção, where there are so many top players in my position,” he said. “Everyone is performing at a high level for the national team. Getting there is tough, but it wasn’t just about getting there. I had to go one step further.”
After an impressive cameo against France, he was rewarded with a place in the starting lineup for the following match. Yet this was not his first experience with the Seleção. Back in 2022, under Tite, Danilo received a call-up but failed to make it off the bench. At the time, he was excelling in midfield for Palmeiras, helping his side to back-to-back Copa Libertadores trophies.
At the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2021™ (played in 2022), he picked up the adidas Bronze Ball as the tournament’s third-best player at just 21 years of age. Despite Palmeiras’ extra-time defeat to Chelsea in the final, the experience remains one of the most valuable of his career.
“It was painful, because we felt we could have won it,” said Danilo. “But I was happy to play against the best in the world, coming up against players like Jorginho, [N’Golo] Kante and Thiago Silva, who I’d only seen on TV. To be there competing with them, going toe to toe with them… It was an exciting match that went to extra time and was decided by a late penalty. It will stay with me forever.”
Four years on, a lot has changed both for Danilo and the Seleção. He describes his current form at Botafogo as the “best of his career”, with ten goals this season, making him one of the standout performers in Brazilian football. Meanwhile, Brazil’s squad is in a period of transition, opening the door for emerging talents like him.
“It’s about the overall context. I was younger back then, I hadn’t had the chances I’ve had now, and the team was different,” he explained. “The squad was more established when I first came in. This time around, there are more young players. But both times, everyone has made me feel welcome.”
Alongside team-mates of a similar generation – the likes of Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro and Endrick – Danilo has also drawn valuable lessons from experienced figures like his namesake Danilo – currently at Flamengo – and Casemiro, both on and off the pitch.
His development has not been plain sailing, though. In 2024, as he prepared to begin his third season with Nottingham Forest, Danilo suffered a fractured ankle that left him sidelined for months. While the injury was a tough spell for the young midfielder, it proved to be a turning point in his personal growth.
“It was really tough at first, but with time it got easier,” said Danilo. “I started to understand things differently. I matured a lot. I became stronger and learned to think more positively every day. After that injury, I developed this mindset.”
It is that mindset that fuels his belief that, when Ancelotti names Brazil’s 26-player squad to travel to this year’s FIFA World Cup™, his name will be among them. For some, his rise may appear to be a late surge in the race for a place. For Danilo, it would be the culmination of years of persistence in pursuit of a dream.
“It would be my greatest achievement,” he said. “Because of everything I’ve been through – since 2022, when I thought I would get more continuity with the national team but it hadn’t happened. Going abroad, coming back, then getting injured and not being able to showcase the football I know I can play.
“But your time comes eventually. And I hope this is my moment. With faith in God, I hope that we can celebrate on 18 [May].”
