One player who will carry Brazil's World Cup hopes on his shoulders is Vinicius Jr.

The forward has eight goals in 47 appearances for Brazil and has been influential for Real Madrid again this campaign with 11 goals in La Liga and five more in the Champions League.

"Vinicius is a football star because of his talent," Ancelotti said.

"He's one of the most talented players in the world, so he carries this weight because everyone expects him to win the game alone and the expectations on him are higher than any other player - maybe only Kylian Mbappe right now."

The 25-year-old has also had to deal with discrimination since moving to Spain, where he has faced 20 incidents of alleged abuse in eight years.

The latest incident came in Real Madrid's Champions League knockout phase play-off tie at Benfica in February, following which the Brazilian winger said "racists are cowards".

"Having a manager like my father is really good - in being close to the stars," the Brazil assistant said.

"We just focused on what he [Vinicius] could improve and he has room for...