Brazil celebrates World Cup qualification: Ancelotti receives the perfect gift

Brazil celebrates World Cup qualification: Ancelotti receives the perfect gift

On June 11, 2025, Brazil qualified for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the USA with a 1-0 win against Paraguay. The game took place in the third to last round of the South American qualification. Vinicius Junior scored the decisive goal in the 44th minute after a precise cross from Matheus Cunha. This makes Brazil the second South American team to qualify for the tournament after Argentina, as [oe24] reports.

This victory was a particularly nice gift for coach Carlo Ancelotti, who celebrated his 66th birthday that day. Ancelotti had only recently taken over the management of the Brazilian national team and was able to celebrate an important success with this first victory under his direction. Previously, he had only managed a 0-0 draw against Ecuador on his debut.

Qualification of the South American teams

Ecuador also qualified alongside Brazil after the team drew 0-0 against Peru. Argentina is currently still at the top of the table despite a 1-1 draw against Chile. Lionel Messi returned to the starting line-up after a knee injury and made his contribution, although Argentina's game was complicated by Enzo Fernández's red card in the 70th minute.

• Brasilien: 25 Punkte (Rang 3)
• Ecuador: 25 Punkte (Rang 2)
• Uruguay: 24 Punkte (Rang 4, Sieg gegen Venezuela 2:0)
• Paraguay: 24 Punkte (Rang 5)
• Kolumbien: 22 Punkte (gute Chancen auf Qualifikation)
• Chile: erneut ausgeschieden
• Peru: praktisch aus dem Rennen

The Seleção's successful qualifying result means that Brazil will now take part in a World Cup for the 23rd time. The country has been represented at every tournament since the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. This consistency is unprecedented, especially since no other country has taken part in a World Cup nearly as often. Germany follows with 20 participations.

After the win against Paraguay, Ancelotti expressed his satisfaction with the team's performance and announced a short break before heading to the Club World Cup. Meanwhile, the football world is looking forward to further developments in qualification and the teams' preparations for the upcoming spectacle in North America, as [sportschau] and [sky] reported.