Kely Nascimento, an activist filmmaker and the eldest daughter of Pele, stated in a 2026 interview that Brazil's football system is broken. Her comments followed Brazil's elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on July 5, 2026, after a 2-1 defeat by Norway.

"Brazilian football is broken. Whether it is corruption ... it's like a closed, very incestuous ecosystem where no one can see inside, and everybody knows why it is not working, but nobody can fix it," Nascimento said. She noted that while everybody recognizes the issues, no one appears able to resolve them. Despite these struggles on the international stage, Nascimento said Brazil's wealth of talent continues to produce top players.

The 2026 World Cup defeat marked the first time Brazil failed to reach the quarter-finals in the tournament since 1990. Brazil last won the World Cup in 2002. Nascimento said these struggles are symptomatic of deeper structural problems within the sport in Brazil.

Nascimento said her father, Pele, had long voiced concerns about the state of Brazilian football. She contrasted Brazil's decline with nations such as France, which she said appeared to have built more effective systems. Nascimento also cited Botafogo's resurgence under U.S. businessman John Textor as an encouraging development. Textor acquired a controlling stake in the Rio de Janeiro-based club in 2022.

"There's a lot of criticism about how he's handling it, but, again, there's good and bad to everything. What he's also bringing is transparency ... he has accountability to a foreign body. To me, that's a positive, regardless of everything he's being blamed for," Nascimento said regarding Textor's approach.