Abhay Singh
Without the support of important players who are injured, Brazil finds itself in uncharted circumstances as it gets ready for pivotal World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru. The country is also dealing with increasing pressure and uncertainty.
Following a run of subpar performances in four of its previous five qualifiers, the five-time World Cup winner stands fifth in the rankings with 10 points, one goal clear of Venezuela in sixth place on goal differential. A spot in the 2026 finals is only certain for the top six.
The inconsistency has plagued Brazil since it let coach Tite go
Bolivia and Paraguay trail by one point each, and should Brazil make another mistake, it may not make it into the World Cup qualifying spots and may miss it altogether for the first time ever.
Only two competitive games have been won by manager Dorival Jr., who was hired in January after the squad played under two interim coaches for a year as the Brazilian FA attempted and failed to sign Italian Carlo Ancelotti away from Real Madrid.
After a lackluster Copa America campaign that ended with Uruguay elimination in the quarterfinals, Brazil narrowly defeated Ecuador at home last month.
However, it collapsed a few days later with yet another subpar showing, falling 1-0 to a Paraguay team that had managed only one goal in their previous seven qualifying matches.
With only four wins in their past 14 games, Brazil has been inconsistent ever since coach Tite was fired after the team lost to Croatia in a penalty shootout at the World Cup quarterfinals in Qatar.
Jesus has been a stand-out talent
For the games against Chile in Santiago on Thursday and Peru in Brasilia on Tuesday, Dorival was forced to make five changes to his starting lineup due to injuries sustained by goalkeeper Alisson, defenders Bremer, Eder Militao, and Guilherme Arana, and forward Vinicius Jr.
On Wednesday, the coach unexpectedly announced that Igor Jesus, a forward for Botafogo, would start up front against Chile in his maiden international call-up, putting teenaged Endrick of Real Madrid on the bench.
Dorival said “What I see is that Igor’s moment is very interesting, Endrick is still getting to know his new club, he’s arriving at the biggest club in world football with a lot of competition,”
Since joining Botafogo from Emirati club Shabab Al-Ahli in July, the 23-year-old Jesus has been a standout player for the Brazilian league leader and Copa Libertadores semi-finalists, scoring seven goals in 19 appearances.
“I think that Igor’s own experience and the moment he’s living is a little different, Maybe it’s important to have players with this profile for a game of this magnitude and at this time.” Dorival added.
“Sometimes we can’t replicate on the pitch everything that we do in training, but on Tuesday we had another training session that filled us with great expectation. Maybe this is the moment to find the balance we want.” The coach concluded.
Chile has five points, two more than Peru in last place, and is ranked ninth in South America’s World Cup qualification rankings.
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