In order to avoid potential fallings-out in Brazil, people are advised to refrain from discussing three subjects: religion, politics and football. One thing that everyone can surely agree on at the moment, though, is that the national team are struggling. The team usually give a nation of vira-latas with an inherent inferiority complex a rare chance to boast superiority over the rest of the world – perhaps only matched at the height of Ayrton Senna’s powers, or by the people who believe that Alberto Santos‑Dumont and not the Wright brothers invented the aeroplane – but watching the Seleção has been a dismal experience of late.
Brazil are expected to win every game, usually in style, so being knocked out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage and then losing two of their three games since Qatar – to Morocco and Senegal – simply won’t do. The truth is, though, this may be a long‑overdue reality check.
Losing to such teams was once unthinkable. Brazil beat Morocco 3-0 on their way to the World Cup final at France 98, for example. But their recent defeats – 2-1 to Morocco in March and 4-2 to Senegal this week – suggest their standing in international football has declined.
These teams are not the minnows they once were. Senegal are the champions of Africa and Morocco reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in December, beating Spain and Portugal before coming up short against France in the last four – a stage of the competition Brazil have reached just once since their most recent World Cup triumph in 2002. But, given the way they are playing, Brazil do not look capable of beating anyone.
When Sadio Mané wrapped up Senegal’s 4-2 win this week, the commentators on Brazilian TV station Globo fumed about the state of the team, with the former Brazil player turned pundit Caio Ribeiro blaming the team’s lack of a permanent head coach. Whereas other countries changed managers swiftly after the World Cup, the Seleção are led by an interim manager, Ramon Menezes, who normally heads the under-20s.
Menezes steered the youngsters to glory in the South American Under-20s Championship this year, but his success has not continued in the top job. The previous manager, Tite, lost just six of his 81 games; Menezes has overseen two defeats in three games.
During Brazil’s defeat to Senegal, Globo ran a poll asking fans who should be their next permanent manager. Real Madrid’s Italian coach, Carlo Ancelotti, finished first with 36%, edging out Palmeiras’s Portuguese, Abel Ferreira, on 35%. Either appointment would give Brazil their first permanent foreign manager. Many fans and former players, including key members of the class of 2002, are firmly against this idea. Others would prefer Ferreira, who speaks the language and is based in Brazil, where he has won every trophy on offer over the last few years.
View image in fullscreenSenegal defender Habib Diallo celebrates after scoring against Brazil. Photograph: Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images
Neither manager is likely to take the job immediately. Reports in Brazil suggest Ancelotti has agreed to take over but only in June 2024 once his contract at the Bernabéu expires. Ferreira says he wants to see out the rest of the season, giving him the chance to defend the league title and possibly win the Copa Libertadores an impressive third time. “I want to fulfil my contract,” Ferreira said this week. “That’s what I have in mind. I have a lot of games ahead of me. Enjoy the moment. My intention is to follow my plan. I move by conviction.”
With these managers not committing immediately, the argument swings in the favour of the former players such as Cafu and Rivaldo, who believe Brazil should appoint a Brazilian. Fernando Diniz, the Fluminense manager, would be likely to drop everything and take the job even though his club are top of their group in the Libertadores.
Time is of the essence given Brazil’s current rut. They have six World Cup qualifiers later this year, the last of which is a home meeting against defending world champions and eternal rivals Argentina. There is also a Copa América in the US next year, which offers a chance to avenge their painful defeat to Argentina at the Maracanã in the previous final in 2021.
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If Ancelotti were to take over next June, he would only meet his new squad on the eve of the tournament. Walter Casagrande, the former Brazil player turned popular pundit, has demanded that the issue be “resolved quickly”, suggesting the Brazilian FA (CBF) should borrow Ferreira from Palmeiras when there is a Brazil game. “Want to wait for Ancelotti? Flip the coin. It can fall head or tails,” he says. “Until he arrives we will be embarrassed. We will be run over by a lot of teams who we did not even consider drawing with in the past.”
Borrowing Ferreira is unlikely to work but, if he took the job at the end of the calendar year, he would at least be in place for the March international window, which gives Brazil a chance to test themselves against European opponents. A lack of matches against top European sides has been cited as a reason for their failure to win the World Cup in the past two decades and chances have been further reduced thanks to the creation of the Nations League. Tite faced European sides only 12 times in his six-year tenure and most of those games came on the job at the World Cup.
Whoever takes over will have a lot of work to do. Ederson has just won the treble with Manchester City, but his recent performances for Brazil show why he tends to play second fiddle to Alisson. Deputising for the injured Liverpool player this week against Senegal, he became the first Brazil goalkeeper to concede four goals in a game since the infamous 7-1 mauling by Germany during the 2014 World Cup.
Not all the blame should go to the goalkeeper. Marquinhos and Éder Militão, two of the best defenders in the world, have looked disorganised and vulnerable of late. Marquinhos erred badly in both of Brazil’s games this week, scoring an own goal against Senegal and finding himself in no man’s land when Guinea scored, although Brazil did win that game 4-1.
Joelinton’s redemption tale from misfiring striker into a respected Premier League midfielder is heartwarming and could not have happened to a nicer bloke. However, he looks lost in a disjointed midfield where Bruno Guimarães, Casemiro and Lucas Paquetá are not performing to their best. Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior are brighter on the wings but their output drops when they do not play alongside a No 9 such as Karim Benzema.
View image in fullscreenJoelinton and Richarlison wait for Senegal players to stop celebrating after Sadio Mané goal. Photograph: Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images
Where to start with Richarlison? His self-described “shit season” warming the bench at Spurs has bled into the national team. He has not been the same since impressing in the group stage in Qatar and then going missing in the quarter-final as Brazil were knocked out by Croatia. His horrible, stumbling dribble against Guinea – where he struggled to control the ball and seemed too shy to pull the trigger – summed up his recent troubles. It led to fans in the stadium demanding he be replaced by the Flamengo forward Pedro – a call that Menezes heeded.
As he walked off the pitch, he might have regretted giving a pre-match interview in which he boasted he was the “goal man” in the Brazil team. “I had a good World Cup, even though we didn’t win the title, and I think here in the national team everyone knows I’m the goal man,” he said. “There’s nothing to choose from. The No 9 is mine.”
Rather than bragging, Richarlison should be looking over his shoulder. Vitor Roque, the 18-year-old who made his debut against Morocco, and Endrick, the 16-year-old Palmeiras prodigy who will join Real Madrid for €60m in July 2024, are lighting up the league and approaching the national team at breakneck speed.
Maybe all this soul-searching is an overreaction. It would not be a first. These are just friendlies after all, and unnecessary ones at the end of a long, tiring European season. The absence of Neymar was also a major factor – as it was at the World Cup, when Brazil struggled against Switzerland before losing to Cameroon without their talisman.
Yet it can’t be ignored that the CBF’s dithering and its lack of planning are having a knock-on effect on a managerless team who need to wake up quickly before embarking on the road to 2026. Whoever takes over has a big job on his hands. It is not a simple case of inheriting a talented group and letting them get on with it.
Tom Sanderson is on Twitter
