Can Carlo Ancelotti Restore Brazil’s Glory?

At long last, Brazil has a manager – and for the first time in modern history, it’s a foreigner. After months – if not years – of speculation, the Brazilian FA (CBF) got its wish: a name of reference, a manager who has conquered everything in the European club game and comes with experience and savoir-faire. At 65, Carlo Ancelotti will lead Brazil.

He will arrive in Rio de Janeiro at a difficult time. Ever since Brazil’s quarterfinal exit from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Tite’s departure, the five-time world champion has been soul-searching. The club game has overtaken the national team, once a symbol of Brazil, the ultimate exporter of the beautiful game. ‘A patria de chuteiras’ no longer commands the global game and hit a new nadir in a recent 4-1 defeat to Argentina in World Cup qualifying, a result perhaps even more damning than the infamous 7-1 humiliation against Germany in 2014. Emotional hysteria prompted that collapse in Belo Horizonte, but against Argentina, Brazil played without a midfield.

How did then-manager Dorival Junior think he could win the match? There was no collective balance and, as a result, Wolves’ André and Newcastle’s Joelinton chased shadows all evening. With Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Raphinha and Savio, Brazil could have set up for the counter, the way they had defeated England 1-0 on Dorival Junior’s debut in 2024.

That friendly was not unimportant. Brazil has been eliminated by European opponents five consecutive times in the World Cup. Infamously, Brazil suffered from the mongrel complex in the past and a new psychological barrier awaits at the 2026 World Cup when playing European teams. At a news conference at Wembley, Dorival Junior said: “We have to remember that we have been champions. We have been champions five times against European teams. Those eliminations have been striking. That has to be discussed and understood so that we can correct our mistakes.”

That will now be left to Ancelotti, whose task will be delicate. How does he rebuild not just a team but also its self-esteem in the space of a year? It’s a tough ask for any manager. So, is the Italian the right man at the right time?

At least, the public’s cultural resistance against a foreign manager has diminished. Brazil’s elite clubs often hire Argentinian or Portuguese managers: Abel Ferreira leads Sao Paulo giants Palmeiras and Jorge Jesus managed Flamengo in 2019. It’s because Brazilian coaching has been in crisis for a long time. The domestic calendar allows Brazilian managers no time to train and develop a team. Under pressure from fans, managers think no further than the next match and the next win. That toxic cycle shuts down fresh ideas and innovation. It means that Dorival Junior and his contemporaries are no longer up to date.

Ancelotti himself is no great philosopher. He is seen as a pragmatic who gets the most out of a group of players – often stars – without implementing a great overarching philosophy. With a reputation as a father figure, the Italian excels at player management and enjoys good relations with Vinicius Junior and other Brazilian players. In O Globo, journalist Carlos Mansur wrote: “Guardiola does brilliantly what has never been done before. Ancelotti does well almost everything that others have done.”

He is, then, a good fit for Brazil and its short-term ambitions at next year’s World Cup. However, in the long run, Jesus was perhaps the better choice. The Portuguese was the architect of Flamengo’s great victory parade in 2019. He delivered a style of attacking soccer that fitted the braggadocio of the club, but also showed Brazilian managers that a daring approach could be successful. His philosophy and affinity with the Brazilian game could have benefited the Seleçao and the domestic game.

All of that will be irrelevant if Ancelotti delivers the currency best understood in soccer: winning. Brazil prevailed at the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. but the team of captain Carlos Dunga and Romario is not remembered with great affection back home. The Brazilians played without flair, the argument goes, but ultimately, in the Californian heat, they labored to victory against Italy on penalties. Ancelotti and Brazil would happily take the same outcome next year.