Eliminatórias Copa 2026 - R17 Date: Sept 4, 2025 Venue: Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro Today Ancelotti gets to meet the Maracanã. With the team already qualified for the WC, Carlo has some freedom to try his ideas out without pressure. Obviously he won't want to lose an official match home even if that glass case has already been broken. Chile on the other hand are dead last in the standings and cannot qualify for the WC, so not sure what kind of competitive match we will get today. Carlo has indicated he will start with 4 forwards. I haven't followed training news, but this is what I've seen as a probable starting lineup. Likely Lineup: Alisson; Wesley, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães e Douglas Santos; Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães; Raphinha, Estêvão, João Pedro e Gabriel Martinelli Suspended: Vini Jr. Pendurados: Bruno Guimarães, Casemiro, Martinelli, Paquetá e Richarlison.
As it'll be match 3 of the Ancelotti era, it's not reasonable to expect the team to flow like the Brazil of 1970, but it is fair to expect improvement. As I wrote in the other thread, as the opponent is a team Brazil has had an edge over in recent WCQ and who will not be at the World Cup next year, it's not necessarily the best test for the team, but Ancelotti will nonetheless draw some lessons from this match. Pundits in Brazil are singing Ancelotti's praises, especially because he is willing and able to keep Neymar off the team. Frankly, I feel bad for Neymar; he's been part of the NT since the early 2010s and Brazil would have been worse off without him in 2014, 2018, and 2022. But whether one agrees with Ancelotti or not, it would take a miracle recovery for Neymar to be match-fit to the extent he would deserve to be a starter in 2026. If therefore Brazil plays sufficiently well without Neymar tonight (and at Bolivia), I really don't see any reason Ancelotti would include him in his plans for 2026, again, barring a shockingly quick and thorough recovery that brings Neymar back to levels similar to his prime. As for the Chileans.... In a recente training session, Chile was deployed in a 3-5-2 with: Vigoroux; Daniel González, Paulo Díaz, Guillermo Maripán; Fabián Hormazábal, Rodrigo Echeverría, Vicente Pizarro, Gabriel Suazo, Lucas Assadi; Lucas Cepeda and Alexander Aravena. The oldest players here are Díaz and Maripán, both born in 1994. 4 others were born in the 1990s and the rest in the 2000s, with the youngest born in 2004 (Assadi). It appears that the Chile NT coaching staff is already bringing in new blood eyeing 2030. They’re not wrong to do it – medalhões can’t play at a high level indefinitely. I guess this is the final farewell to anybody from the 2015-2016 Chilean NT ciclo.
Just 1x0 so far, Brazil dominating but not making the most of chances. Chile trying to counter, caught offside a few times. I'd like to see early subs in the second half but that's probably not likely...
Six players warming up early, that's a good sign. Caio Henrique, Andrey, Paquetá, Luiz Henrique, Kaio Jorge and Richarlison
Andrey Santos and Luiz Henrique coming in for Casemiro and Estêvão. Vitinho and Samu Lino added to the guys warming up. Casemiro is suspended for the Bolivia game, so it's likely Andrey will start.
Subs definitely gave the initiative back to Brazil. Bruno Guimarães scores after another Luiz Henrique play after regaining possession close to the goal. 3x0
Final score: 3x0 Useful match for entrosamento, but I can't shake the feeling that we will need to see the team hit a wall and fail with this 4-2-4 at some point in order to find a better solution for challenging matches. Against a Chile, this is fine. Still no goals conceded under Ancelotti, so that positive continues. Could have had more in the first half, but didn't. Dropped in intensity in the second half but subs at 20 and 25 minutes made the difference. EDIT: Douglas Santos and Estêvão stood out in the first half. Casemiro was doing alright until he should have gotten a red, he'll be out of the next match. Bruno Guimarães was good overall. Luiz Henrique and Paquetá really stood out after coming on.
For the next match, with Casemiro suspended, we're at 23 players available, so everyone can dress, including Jean Lucas who was left out of this match. Andrey will probably start and I hope we see maybe 3 to 4 more changes.
I ended up missing the game. But yeah ... don't really want to make any conclusions playing against a weak Chile.