Brazil continued to draw against Tunisia in the international friendly despite Estevao’s goal

Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Tunisia in Lille on Tuesday ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

The in-form 18-year-old Estevao scored a penalty, but Lucas Paqueta squandered a chance to win the match for the Selecao from the spot.

The five-time world champion goes into next year’s tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada under a bit of cloud, after finishing only fifth in the South American qualifying.

Last month they also fell to a 3-2 friendly defeat against Japan.

Brazilian coach Ancelotti named a strong squad, including four forwards – Matheus Cunha, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes and Estevao – in his starting XI.

But Tunisia took a surprise lead midway through the first half when Ali Abdi’s brilliant pass found Hazem Mastouri, and the Dynamo Makhachkala striker kept his composure to slot the ball past the onrushing Brazilian goalkeeper Bento.

But Brazil was awarded a VAR penalty for handball shortly before half-time, much to the disappointment of the thousands of Tunisian fans in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Estevao, who also scored against Senegal on Saturday, made his fifth international goal.

AS IT HAPPENED: BRA VERSUS TUN HIGHLIGHTS

Brazil were awarded another penalty with twelve minutes to go, but substitute Paqueta took the penalty from Estevao and hit his effort over the crossbar.

Brazil felt they should have been awarded a third penalty in the 89th minute as Estevao went down, but the referee stuck to his original decision to play on despite a VAR review.

Elsewhere in international friendlies, Sadio Mane scored a first-half hat-trick as Senegal defeated Kenya 8-0, while African champions Ivory Coast recovered from defeat to Saudi Arabia with a 2-0 win over Oman.

Saudi Arabia was defeated 2-0 at home by Algeria, with Riyad Mahrez on the scoresheet, while Morocco won the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists 4-0 against Uganda.

Uzbekistan, which makes its World Cup debut next year, had Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov sent off in a goalless draw against Iran.

Published on November 19, 2025