Brazilian FA (CBF) football director Rodrigo Caetano said Carlo Ancelotti would remain in charge during the 2030 World Cup cycle after Brazil’s 2-1 defeat to Norway in the last 16 on Sunday extended the five-time champions’ wait for a sixth title to at least 28 years.
Erling Haaland scored twice at the New York-New Jersey Stadium to send Brazil home, sparking fierce scrutiny over the team’s performance, Ancelotti’s decisions and the direction of Brazilian football.
For a country that measures football pain in four-year cycles, the finger-pointing quickly began. Much of it was aimed at Ancelotti, who had just one year to reshape a side that had had three interim managers while the Brazilian Football Federation waited for him to leave Real Madrid.
But Caetano told it Reuters the 67-year-old Italian, who extended his contract in May until the 2030 World Cup, would not be thrown overboard after one storm.
“He is our manager and will remain so throughout the cycle,” said Caetano.
“One of the main reasons why we failed at this World Cup was the lack of good, stable long-term guidance, which would have properly prepared our national team for a World Cup, and we cannot make the same mistake again.”
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However, Ancelotti’s decisions provided sufficient material for the autopsy process.
He was criticized for allowing midfielder Bruno Guimaraes to take an early penalty, which he missed, and for leaving the 34-year-old duo of Casemiro and Danilo on until the end of a match in which Brazil looked heavy-footed and out of ideas.
NEYMAR MAKES LITTLE IMPACT
His introduction of striker Neymar midway through the second half also changed little about the match, other than the striker converting a penalty deep into extra time to reduce the deficit.
O Globo was scathing about Neymar’s altercation with the Norwegian goalkeeper after the penalty.
“The scene in which Neymar argues with the goalkeeper after the penalty – with the score already at a level that, even if Brazil had scored, would have eliminated them from the World Cup – seems to reveal a man unable to distance himself from ‘his own reflection’,” the newspaper wrote.
«There are people who must be the protagonist of victory. Neymar also seems to have to be the protagonist of failure.»
SportsTV host Andre Rizek offered an even bleaker diagnosis.
“Brazilian football has reached a low point,” he said. «Brazil has become accustomed to losing. We have lost to Senegal, Japan, Morocco, Colombia… Twice overrun by Argentina. It is official: we are experiencing the worst moment in the history of Brazilian football.»
Folha de Sao Paulo said: «Ancelotti’s substitutions fail to wake up a slow and sleepy team» and noted that, according to Opta, Brazil’s possession against Norway at 35% was the lowest in a World Cup match since records began in 1966.
The question now for Brazil is whether this defeat will be a new scar or the start of a great revival.
Published on July 6, 2026
