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Analysis
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North America's best striker will not be at the 2026 World Cup
19 May 2026 16:00 CDT |
4 min read
News
The 2026 World Cup will be a celebration of North American football culture, but arguably the continent's best striker will not be part of the tournament.
The biggest event in sports is moving ever closer. Around the world, seasons are drawing to a close, and leagues are going on hiatus. Club football is about to become completely irrelevant in a couple of weeks.
The World Cup is right around the corner, and one sign is that national teams are beginning to unveil their squads for the competition. Not all of them have been announced yet, but there have already been some surprises.
Neymar has made the cut for Brazil at the expense of Chelsea star Joao Pedro, while Eduardo Camavinga has missed out on the France squad. Portugal boss Roberto Martinez has also made a surprising decision, albeit one that has gone under the radar.
The Spaniard announced his squad on Tuesday and made sure to pay tribute to the late Diogo Jota. The former Liverpool striker, who passed away last year, was included on the Selecao's roster graphic, but another centre-forward was a notable omission.
Paulinho won't be at the World Cup
That player was Toluca striker Paulinho, who will not be particularly familiar to Europeans, but who is a household name in North America due to his recent exploits with the Mexican giants.
The 33-year-old is currently enjoying a quite remarkable career renaissance with the Diablos Rojos. Paulinho is probably the most clinical finisher playing at an elite level in North America right now.
Such has been Paulinho's impact that even Martinez has taken notice. He recalled him to the Portugal squad for the first time in almost six years during the March break to get a good look at him against World Cup hosts Mexico and the USA.
The striker didn't manage to get on the scoresheet during his two half-hour cameos, but the fact that he returned to the Selecao aged 33 was impressive. He had a good chance of making the final roster, too, but it wasn't to be.
Ultimately, Martinez decided to pick the more versatile Goncalo Guedes instead because he believes that Paulinho is too similar to his other options. "In the centre-forward position, for the third striker, we're looking for a player with different characteristics," he explained.
"We already did this during the European Championship, during the Nations League. We have two reference players in the centre-forward position, in the number nine position, Cristiano Ronaldo and Goncalo Ramos.
"Goncalo Guedes is the third striker because he's a more flexible player, who can play on the wings, inside, open up spaces for counter-attacks, and make different movements from a centre-forward.
"Paulinho is a player who fits the profile of Cristiano and Ramos, but here we need to continue with the idea of having three strikers, two with more fixed positions, one with more variable positions."
Paulinho's impressive scoring record
It is easy for Europeans playing in North America, especially outside of Major League Soccer, to go under the radar, but Paulinho's exploits have been impossible to ignore. He is just such a devastating finisher.
Of course, it helps that he plays for arguably the most stacked team in the region. Toluca boast an incredible squad, and are set to face Tigres in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final at the end of the month after thrashing LAFC 4-0 in their semi-final second leg.
Paulinho has been with the Mexican side since the summer of 2024. He left his native Portugal for the first time in his career, having previously suited up for several teams, including Braga and Sporting CP.
He had a decent scoring record for both clubs, but it was not comparable to what his successor Viktor Gyokeres would achieve at Sporting. Paulinho left the Lisbon outfit after winning two league titles and bagging 53 goals in 145 games.
After moving to Mexico, he exploded. He has already bettered his Sporting goalscoring record while playing 58 fewer matches. netting 61 times in 87 appearances for Toluca.
He scored 12 goals in last year's Apertura and then another three in the playoffs as Toluca won the Liguilla. He has since followed that up with eight goals in six CONCACAF Champions Cup matches this year.
His form in the Clausura was more spotty. After going three games without scoring to start 2026, he netted six goals in as many games. However, with Toluca going all guns blazing in CONCACAF, coach Antonio Mohamed rotated heavily in domestic fixtures.
Paulinho only featured in one of Toluca's last four Clausura matches because he was being rested for CONCACAF play. This rotation ultimately came back to bite the Red Devils as they were knocked out of the Liguilla earlier this month after losing 3-0 on aggregate to Pachuca.
