Brazil at the 2026 World Cup

No country loves a World Cup like Brazil. No country suffers one like Brazil, either. Twenty-four years have passed since the last Seleção title — the 2002 triumph in Japan and South Korea, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, a 2-0 over Germany in Yokohama. Since then: four consecutive quarter-final exits, the 7-1 Mineiraço against Germany in 2014, the 2022 Neymar penalty shootout loss to Croatia. Twenty-four years is the longest drought in modern Brazilian football history, and the national conversation about it — Seleção complex, HEXA anxiety, "is this finally our year" — has become a genre unto itself in the São Paulo and Rio sports press.

Carlo Ancelotti, appointed in 2025 and the first non-Brazilian coach of the Seleção in over 60 years, is the plot twist. His brief is deceptively simple: find the balance between the 2002 offensive identity and the 2018-2022 defensive rigor that never quite delivered. He inherits a squad that is — statistically — still one of the most talented on the planet. Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo form the front line. Raphinha patrolled the right and scored in nearly every qualifier. Lucas Paquetá and Bruno Guimarães marshal the middle. Alisson and Éderson rotate in goal. Marquinhos captains the defense. And, after a difficult two years of injuries, Neymar has declared himself fit and available at 34 — a final-dance narrative that echoes Messi's, only the script has not yet been written.

The CONMEBOL qualifiers were, by Brazilian standards, turbulent. Ancelotti took over mid-cycle after the Dorival Júnior dismissal, stabilized a campaign that had looked shaky under two previous coaches, and dragged Brazil to qualification via a 14-match late run. The Seleção finished second behind Argentina, which from São Paulo's perspective is both humiliating and revealing.

Group C is a genuine test. Morocco, the 2022 semi-finalist, is the Group C headline — a straight rematch of the 2023 friendly where Morocco beat Brazil 2-1 in Tangier. Scotland brings physicality; Haiti is the lone breather. For HEXA (the sixth title, pronounced "ex-ah"), Brazil must first win Group C. That sentence, more than any other, will define the Seleção's tournament.

Ancelotti's Brazil is a 4-3-3 that inherits his Real Madrid principles: defend with a mid-block, let the ball come, and hit through the inside channels with Vinícius and Rodrygo's diagonal runs. Casemiro's international retirement left a hole, filled imperfectly by Bruno Guimarães and André. Paquetá is the creative connector. Full-backs push high — Vanderson and Carlos Augusto are the starters — but leave cover for Marquinhos and Gabriel Magalhães. Strengths: still the most technically gifted front three in the tournament, a world-class goalkeeper rotation, and a coach who has won every major title. Weaknesses: Casemiro's absence left the double pivot thinner than it should be; the defense occasionally panics against direct opponents (see the 2-1 loss to Morocco in 2023); and the psychological weight of "HEXA or bust" has haunted three tournaments running. Ancelotti's job is, in effect, sports psychology as much as tactics.