Barcelona forward Raphinha has been given Brazil’s No. 10 shirt, the Confederation of Brazilian Football confirmed on Thursday, closing the Neymar chapter and opening a new one for a number that carries more history than any other in the Brazilian game.
The confederation released the full squad numbers for its 26-man travelling party ahead of two friendlies, against Australia and India. Raphinha will wear the shirt for the first time in a competitive Brazil setup on Friday, when Carlo Ancelotti’s side face Australia in Townsville.
That match is Brazil’s first outing since their round of 16 exit at the 2026 World Cup, so the number change lands at the start of a fresh cycle rather than in the middle of one. The reshuffle stretches across the forward line. Endrick takes the No. 9 previously worn by Matheus Cunha, who was left out of this squad, while Estêvão inherits Raphinha’s former No. 11 and VinÃcius Júnior keeps No. 7. Goalkeeper Hugo Souza wears No. 1.
Football transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed the move on X, posting that Raphinha was Brazil’s new No. 10 after Neymar’s international retirement. ESPN was first to report the assignment.
The shirt fell vacant when Neymar stepped away from the national team after the World Cup. Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 80 goals in 130 appearances, the 34-year-old had worn the No. 10 at four World Cups, in 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026, before announcing in late July that his time with the Seleção had come to an end.
Raphinha is not entirely new to the number. He wore it in Neymar’s absence during World Cup qualifying, including matches against Venezuela and Uruguay in 2024, though for most of his Brazil career he has lined up in the No. 11. At 29, he moves into the role having established himself as one of the side’s most important attacking players over the past two seasons.
The weight attached to the shirt comes from those who wore it before him. Pelé, Zico, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaká and Neymar all carried the No. 10 for Brazil, and the number has long been treated less as a squad allocation than as a statement about who leads the team going forward.
Ancelotti’s decision, then, reads as more than a numbering exercise. By handing the shirt to Raphinha and the No. 9 to the teenaged Endrick, the coaching staff have signalled where they expect creative and goalscoring responsibility to sit as Brazil rebuild towards the next World Cup.
Raphinha’s first appearance in the shirt comes against Australia in Townsville, with a second meeting between the sides to follow before Brazil face India in Kolkata on 3 October. Those matches will be the first real look at how the new attacking order functions on the pitch, and at whether Raphinha can carry a number that has defined so many eras of Brazilian football.
For now, the confirmation settles a question that had lingered since Neymar’s exit. The No. 10 has a new owner, and Brazil’s next chapter begins with it on Raphinha’s back.