Matheus Cunha has scored his first World Cup goal for Brazil, breaking through on the biggest stage in football after a tournament that, until now, had been defined more by frustration than celebration for the Manchester United forward.
The goal caps a redemption arc that started well before the first whistle in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Cunha was left off Brazil’s squad entirely for the 2022 tournament. Four years later, he’s not just on the roster, he’s finding the net.
From omission to breakthrough
Cunha earned his spot on Brazil’s 2026 World Cup squad on the back of a strong Premier League campaign. He tallied 10 goals and 4 assists across 33 matches during the season, helping Manchester United secure a third-place finish in the league.
Cunha made 5 appearances in the tournament before finally converting, with earlier matches marked by missed chances, including a notable squandered opportunity against Morocco.
His only senior international goal prior to this came during a World Cup qualifier against Argentina on March 25, 2025.
The CUNHA token: a different kind of score
A Solana-based meme token named CUNHA exists, inspired by the Brazilian forward’s name and rising profile.
The token trades at a micro-cap level with approximately $7-$8 in daily trading volume. That’s not a typo. Single-digit dollars. You could outpace the token’s entire daily volume by buying a medium pizza.
What this means for investors
The CUNHA token is a textbook example of why name recognition alone doesn’t create a viable crypto asset. A token can be attached to the most exciting athlete on the planet and still go nowhere if there’s no liquidity, no community, and no utility driving demand.
Investors eyeing athlete-branded tokens should pay close attention to trading volume as a baseline indicator of market interest. When daily volume sits in single digits, it signals extreme illiquidity. That means getting in might be easy, but getting out at a price you’re comfortable with could be nearly impossible. Slippage on micro-cap tokens like this can be devastating.
Cunha the footballer just scored the biggest goal of his career. Cunha the token, trading at $7-$8 a day, is still looking for its first real buyer.
