I will support Egypt, Morocco, Paraguay… and France, the most fortunate

Al Ain’s coach, Serbian Vladimir Ivic, who led Al-Zaeem to achieve the local double by winning the professional league title without losing, in addition to the President’s Cup, said that he will not be able to travel to watch the 2026 World Cup finals, and will be content with watching the matches on television, at a time when he announced his support for the teams of Egypt, Morocco and Paraguay, and nominated the French team to win the title.

Ivic told the Serbian newspaper Meridian Sport: “Unfortunately, I will not be able to go this time, as the tournament will be held far away. I will follow the matches on television, and I see that France is the most likely candidate to win the title.”

He continued: “From my point of view, the French national team has the best team and the strongest squad of distinguished players, in addition to an experienced coach who has worked with the same group for many years and knows it well. Of course, this does not guarantee anything in football, as we may witness surprises, but I expect France to reach the final match.”

The Serbian coach, who knows the atmosphere of world championships, added after he led Al Ain in the Club World Cup, which was held last year in the United States: “I will support Egypt, Morocco, and Paraguay, because three of my team’s players represent these teams, and they are Rami Rabia, Sufyan Rahimi, and Alejandro Caco. I will support them wholeheartedly, and I will also support Bosnia and Herzegovina, as I belong to it and I cannot ignore that.”

Ivic touched on the decision of the Brazilian national team coach, Italian Carlo Ancelotti, not to call up Chelsea striker Joao Pedro to the national team roster, despite the distinguished levels the player has performed in recent seasons, noting that the Serbian coach had previously supervised his training during his time with England’s Watford.

He said: “It is truly unfortunate that Joao Pedro is not on the World Cup roster. I do not want to interfere in the choices of Carlo Ancelotti, one of the greatest coaches in the history of football, but I still cannot comprehend the absence of a player with this potential from the tournament.”

He added: “Neymar was called up for marketing reasons. He is a former player. I do not see that Brazil currently has better strikers than Joao Pedro. He has achieved amazing development in recent years, and deserves to be present at the World Cup. I only worked with him for six months, but during that time he showed exceptional talent. He is a striker who scores goals and plays important defensive roles as well. He has a high understanding of the game and a distinctive tactical sense.”

He continued: “He is a useful player for any team. He is fast and good at pressuring the opponent. He is smart in his movements and reading situations on the field. For me, he is a complete player in every sense of the word, so I do not understand the reason for his absence from the World Cup list. Frankly, it was an unpleasant surprise for me.”