Carlo Ancelotti, the technical director of the Brazil national team, clarified that his goal is to win the Copa America 2028 title, and revealed the reason for the loss to Norway in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup.
The Brazil national team bid farewell to the 2026 World Cup at the hands of Norway from the round of 16, marking the Samba's worst World Cup performance since 1990.
All of the following came in the Italian coach's interview with the Brazilian network "Globo"
What comes after the 2026 World Cup
After the defeat, I think it is important to take some time to reflect, try to recover, study what happened in detail, and plan for the future carefully. That is why, after the defeat, I preferred to go to my family to rest, recover, and reflect, and to exchange ideas with the technical staff and the Brazilian Federation to try to improve performance and plan for the new team in the future.
It was not an easy period due to the sadness and disappointment from the defeat. It is a defeat of a different kind because it is a defeat in the World Cup. There is no time, as is the case with clubs, to respond and recover, and the effects of the defeat remain stuck for a longer period.
This is what happened in those days. But now we have returned to work, to evaluations, and to thinking about building a new team from young players. So I think it will be an interesting process.
I think this World Cup represents the end of a generation of very important players, starting with Neymar, passing through Dani Alves and Casemiro, and all the players who were over 30 years old in the World Cup.
We will work on developing new players capable of joining, not necessarily for the 2030 World Cup, but to be strong competitors in the first goal, which is the 2028 Copa America. We must have a close relationship with the under-20 national team, which is preparing for the Olympic Games.
Copa America 2028
We have 4 years ahead. We had to do a lot of things in the first year, taking into account also that we suffered 8 injuries between March and June, which slightly changed the team's structure.
So, the truth is that we will face constant pressure. But I think this pressure will ease with time. Our first goal will not be the 2030 World Cup, but it will be the Copa America; we will try to win the Copa America in 2028.
I think we need to look for new goalkeepers. And there are already new goalkeepers, including young goalkeepers playing in the Brazilian league, and we must follow them. Taking into account the capabilities that Alisson and Ederson still possess, the idea is to conduct a very precise evaluation of the new goalkeepers.
Facing Norway and the difference with Spain
Norway had possession of the ball, but most of their possession was in their own half, because Odegaard was dropping back.
If you press them hard, they will seek to escape this pressure and turn into counterattacks. I think the statistics related to possession are not that important.
It is true that the team that won the World Cup, Spain, had a lot of ball possession, but they conceded a goal. Spain had a lot of ball possession because they have a very strong generation of midfielders, including 7 of the best midfielders in the world: Fabian, Rodri, Pedri, Olmo, Zubimendi, Merino, and Gavi. 7! So Spain sought to control the match and win the World Cup.
I think there are matches where having less ball possession is not a decisive factor, because it depends on the characteristics of the players. When a team has attackers like Vinicius Junior, Endrick, and Estevao, who are good at penetrating the opponent's defenses, the opponent is forced to play in a more in-depth attacking style than others.
This is not the case with Spain, which does not have players of this quality in the attack. They have only one player, Lamine, who is very skilled in individual duels. As for the rest of the players, they are multi-skilled players.
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What happened in the match against Norway
I think that until the water break in the second half, the team was well positioned on the pitch.
We had the opportunity to score from a penalty kick and with Endrick. The self-criticism I can direct, which I presented after the match, is that I changed the team's formation after the water break against Norway, and then we lost control of the match.
I think something changed in the team. We lost some control on the flanks. With Neymar's entry, I was thinking of regaining control of the match, and putting more quality in the attack to win.
This is part of the decision. You have to make a decision in an elimination match. It is similar to our match against Japan. Sometimes the decisions are correct because the result rewards you, and sometimes the decisions are very bad because the result does not reward you.
I felt the need to change something in the team. That is why I brought on Neymar, to enhance the quality of the attack line.
It is a mistake to judge any project based on the result only. The result of the match against Norway was very bad for everyone, disappointing, and very sad. But behind that, there was a full year of work, in preparation for the World Cup, which, in the opinion of all of us, not just my opinion, was impeccable work. It was a very quick process, full of problems, because we suffered 8 injuries between March and June. Among them was the injury of Militao, and Rodrygo, then the injury of Estevao. This changed the structure we were preparing for in a very short time.
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Coaching the Italy national team
There was contact from the federation only, but it is not about the contract, but about the commitment. I have a commitment to Brazil not just because I signed the contract, but based on the year I spent here, where I received a wonderful reception, and I do not want to break this commitment. I want to continue working and staying with the Brazil national team.
Paolo Maldini, the technical director of the Italian Federation, had previously clarified his contact with Ancelotti to discuss the possibility of coaching the Azzurri.
Ancelotti coached Brazil in 17 matches, winning 10, drawing 3, and losing 4.
