Carlo Ancelotti has named an attack-heavy squad for this first World Cup.
That means ‘Carletto’ only had four competitive matches in charge in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, and two of them were dead rubbers as Brazil had already clinched qualification.
In their two matches against European opposition under Ancelotti, Brazil had less possession than their opponents – 45% in a win over Croatia and 46% in a loss to France.
Marquinhos will captain the side, putting all his experience to good use to lead the Brazilian team into the World Cup.
He has never quite managed to take Brazil to their first World Cup win since 2002, though.
Carlo Ancelotti has named an attack-heavy squad for this first World Cup. Can he find a functional team to take Brazil back to glory?
Brazil always enter a World Cup cycle hoping to win it all, but this time around, the expectations are more a reflection of their reputation and the number of stars on their yellow jersey than any kind of solid preparation for the tournament.
The Seleção have had four different coaches and 84 different players make at least one appearance since 2023. After plenty of changes in direction, though, Brazil have finally found their manager for the tournament in Carlo Ancelotti, who arrived in June 2025.
That means ‘Carletto’ only had four competitive matches in charge in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, and two of them were dead rubbers as Brazil had already clinched qualification. As a result, most of his work came in the space of seven friendlies since qualifying finished.
The Italian manager has generally favoured an attack-minded system with two midfielders and four forwards. Casemiro (10 starts) and Bruno Guimarães (9) have made the most starts under Ancelotti, alongside Vinícius Júnior (9). The 4-2-4 system is a reflection of the imbalance in the positions of the players available to the Brazil manager.
While the midfield pair seems settled, the four attacking spots are still up for grabs, particularly following injuries to Rodrygo, who is Brazil’s top scorer since 2023, with eight goals, and Estêvão, who is the top scorer under Ancelotti, with five goals.
Vinícius and Raphinha are the most prolific of the bunch, but their star power in Europe has not consistently translated to the international stage.
Vinícius has amassed an astonishing 183 goal involvements in 257 matches in all competitions for Real Madrid in the last five seasons, at a rate of 0.79 per match, but his production drops to 17 goal contributions in 48 matches for Brazil, at lower than half the rate (0.36 per match).
The same goes for Raphinha, who has 127 goal involvements in 177 matches for Barcelona (0.72 per match), compared to 18 goal contributions in 38 matches for the Seleção (0.47 per match).
With no obvious centre-forward choice aside from Brentford’s Igor Thiago, who isn’t expected to start, there is a chance that Vinícius or Raphinha could play centrally. Vini has spent 57% of his minutes under Ancelotti for Brazil as a striker, while Raphinha has played 43% of his minutes as a central attacking midfielder.
The remaining positions in the Brazil attack will be fiercely contested between Matheus Cunha, Luiz Henrique, Rayan, Gabriel Martinelli, Endrick, Igor Thiago and, after his surprise inclusion in the squad, Neymar.
Cunha is currently the frontrunner, having created 11 chances while playing for Brazil under Ancelotti, a tally bested only by Vinícius (18), Bruno (15) and Casemiro (14) who, as we’ve seen, have played more football than others. Cunha has also primarily played in central areas.
Luiz Henrique, Rayan and Endrick have also caught the attention of many Brazilian fans, and each has made a case for a starting berth.
Luiz has completed almost as many dribbles (14) in just 344 minutes for Brazil as Vinícius has (18) in 685 minutes during the Ancelotti era.
Meanwhile, teenagers Rayan and Endrick have both already scored for Brazil, and both did so in iconic venues. The Bournemouth winger found the net in his second appearance – against Panama at the Maracanã – while the Real Madrid man netted in his third match – against England at Wembley.
However, no player carries greater expectation in the streets of Brazil than Neymar. The all-time top scorer for the Seleção in official matches (79 goals) hasn’t played for his national side since October 2023, but after returning to his boyhood club Santos in 2025, he did enough to convince Ancelotti to call him up.
Despite making only 43 appearances for Santos – nearly half the number of the player with the most matches for Santos in that period, Gabriel Brazão (85) – he led his side in goals (17), dribbles completed (67), chances created (114), shots (118) and fouls won (160). Meanwhile, he also ranked second-best for assists (eight) and touches in the opposition’s box (187), all while playing for a team that have been battling relegation.
He is already a Brazil legend, but his inclusion in the squad allows him the chance to become just the second Brazilian to score in four different World Cups after Pelé.
Neymar’s ability to connect the midfield and strikers, not to mention his potential to decide matches, is unquestioned. It is now Ancelotti’s task to decide if he’ll be the focal point of the team or a late substitute who could appear late on to try and turn a game.
With the abundance of forwards and few midfielders, Brazil should threaten with fast-paced, direct attacks.
In their two matches against European opposition under Ancelotti, Brazil had less possession than their opponents – 45% in a win over Croatia and 46% in a loss to France. Notably, France had a player sent off in the 55th minute, at which point Brazil had just 40% possession.
Even though most opponents often force Brazil to dominate possession against deeper blocks, Ancelotti’s side have had almost as many direct attacks (25) as build-up attacks (30) since the manager took over. (Direct attacks are defined as open-play sequences that start inside the team’s own half and have at least 50% of movement towards the opposition’s goal and end in a shot or a touch in the opposition’s box; build-up attacks are open-play sequences that contain 10+ passes and either end in a shot or a touch in the box.)
While there is uncertainty up front, the defence is far more settled. Both centre-backs were UEFA Champions League finalists – Marquinhos for PSG and Gabriel Magalhães for Arsenal.
Marquinhos will captain the side, putting all his experience to good use to lead the Brazilian team into the World Cup. His 122 appearances in the Champions League leave him second only to Lionel Messi (163) among non-European players.
Meanwhile, Gabriel was a key part of the defence with the most clean sheets in both the Champions League (9) and the Premier League (19) this season.
They have, however, started only two matches together under Ancelotti, though both games ended with clean sheets and wins: 3-0 against Chile and 2-0 against Senegal.
Having a solid defence capable of withstanding matches without much possession against top European competition could be Brazil’s best bet, hoping to catch their rivals off guard with their myriad of speedy forwards. Brazil have had 19 shots from fast breaks in 11 matches under Ancelotti, including four against Croatia – two of which brought goals – and two against France.
And if all goes wrong, Brazil will have the last resort of Neymar – tasked with getting in there and making something happen, as he has done in each of his previous three World Cups.
He has never quite managed to take Brazil to their first World Cup win since 2002, though. This is his final chance.
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