The greatest victory

Football (/soccer 😉) season is upon us, at last.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has just kicked off across the United States, Canada and Mexico. 48 nations, 1 tournament. As big as it gets for elite players around the globe.

Brazil arrive at this tournament at the centre of a story that has been rippling through sporting circles this past week. It begins with a penalty miss in Qatar, 2022, and continues with a hug in Budapest, a little over a week ago.  

Meet Marquinhos.

Born in São Paulo, he joined his local club Corinthians' youth academy at 8 years old, moved to Europe as a teenager, and arrived at Paris Saint-Germain at 19 as one of the most expensive teenage defenders in history. He has been there ever since, becoming the club's most capped player of all time and captain of both PSG and the Brazilian national team.

And then there's Gabriel Magalhães, 3 years younger, also from São Paulo. At 13, he took a 12-hour bus journey alone to trial for a football academy in southern Brazil. Gabriel eventually found his way through French football before Arsenal signed him in 2020, and this past season, anchored the defence that won Arsenal their first Premier League title in 22 years.

Two Brazilians, both centre-backs, and as of 12 days ago, bound by something that goes well beyond football…

Now, let’s rewind to December 2022, the World Cup quarter-final in Qatar: Brazil v. Croatia.

The match goes to a penalty shootout and Marquinhos, Brazil's captain, steps up as the fourth taker. He strikes the post, and it’s all over. His teammates sink into despair, many sobbing as the Croatian fans go wild. Marquinhos stands alone on the pitch in a mix of shock and devastation.

“I know how I would have liked to have received a hug right then,” he reflects. “This scar becomes a motivation for us to keep working. With time, with the days passing, the moments passing, the games passing, we manage to digest it a little better.”

Jump forward to May 30, 2026: the UEFA Champions League Final in Budapest, PSG v. Arsenal. The match finishes level and goes to penalties. Gabriel, who before now has never taken a professional penalty, steps up with Arsenal needing a goal to stay alive. With the stakes impossibly high, he strikes the ball over the bar, cementing a PSG victory.

Marquinhos begins moving towards his teammates in celebration, but takes a sudden detour:

"I had the same image of Gabriel in front of me, and my team walking past him. The same image as when I missed my penalty in 2022. That's when I started thinking about my teammate, having empathy, because I've been through a moment like that and I know the responsibility."

What follows is an embrace between the two players, all while the stadium erupts for PSG. Marquinhos tells Gabriel to hold his head high as one of the best defenders in the world. That nothing about this moment can erase the extraordinary season he’d just had. And that Brazil would need him, soon.

The next day, the two players continued to exchange words of support and gratitude, inspiring Marquinhos to reflect further on the experience:

"I told him it had been my greatest victory that night, and that the reaction it generated was great. My mum came over, proud of what I'd done, along with my wife, family and brothers. It was the best accolade I received that night."

This moment speaks to something we’ve been thinking about a lot at Mojo.

That to be human is to hold two contradictory things at once, and have both be completely true.

Marquinhos was elated, having just won the Champions League. And in the same breath, he was also present and empathetic to someone else’s pain. Grief and joy can co-exist, as can competition and camaraderie. Victory and grace, extrinsic and intrinsic. The scoreboard and the person standing in front of you.

We can experience it all at once, in all its messiness. That’s what it means to be human.

In our most vulnerable, crucible moments, whether we're the one on our knees or the one witnessing the struggle, what tends to cut through isn't a grand gesture or the perfect speech. It's simply the willingness to cross the pitch. To stand with someone who’s in the thick of it and say: I see you, I’ve been here too.

As the World Cup kicks off, Marquinhos and Gabriel are now expected to line up together as Brazil’s first-choice centre-back partnership. This isn’t just a cool reunion. It’s an exciting opportunity, knowing this team has a whole new depth of connection and trust behind them.

It really does make you wonder:

What if our greatest victories aren’t the ones that end up on the scoreboard?

Maybe it’s about something much more simple and sacred.

Vamos!