Brentford's Igor Thiago believes his battle with Erling Haaland at the top of the Premier League scoring charts will leave him well-equipped to represent Brazil at the World Cup.

Carlo Ancelotti has handed Thiago his first call-up to the Selecao's senior setup ahead of this month's friendlies versus France and Croatia.

That comes as a reward for scoring 19 goals in 31 Premier League games for Brentford so far this season, with those figures putting him in contention for the Golden Boot.

Manchester City superstar Haaland leads the way with 22 goals, as he hunts his third top-scorer award in the English top flight, but he has experienced a downturn in form lately.

As Thiago prepares for a possible international debut against France in Foxborough on Thursday, he says this season's performances have massively boosted his confidence.  

"Our national team squad is massive, so I think that to make it this far, you need to put in performances like these," Thiago told ESPN Brasil. 

"To be up there with Haaland, competing for the top scorer spot alongside him... a player of his calibre, a goal-scoring machine... that gives me even more motivation to represent my country.

"With such a huge squad, I think you have to have these numbers to be able to represent our country.

"The work I'm putting in is being noticed by people. To be able to represent our country by playing in one of the toughest competitions in the world, and to be putting in performances and achieving results, is something that fills me with pride. 

"And to be here today is, for me, the greatest dream of my life, the greatest achievement of my life."

Thiago's 19 Premier League goals this term have come from an expected goals (xG) figure of 17.5, while he has hit the target with 63.8% of his shots (37/71) and boasts a 26.8% conversion rate.

Joao Pedro, Vinicius Junior, Endrick and Matheus Cunha are among the other forwards in Ancelotti's latest squad, with Neymar being left out despite his return to fitness. 

Brazil will face Morocco, Scotland and Haiti in Group C at the World Cup, with their first match coming against the Atlas Lions on June 13.