Brazil will be looking to maintain their ever-present World Cup record as the road to the 2026 tournament starts with a home game against Bolivia in South American qualification.
With the 2022 World Cup played as a winter tournament in the Northern Hemisphere, schedules have been tweaked, and CONMEBOL has divided qualifying matches up across the next three years.
Qualification from South America is notoriously difficult, with Brazil and the other nine sides involved set to play 18 games to try to secure a spot at the competition, which will be co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026. Things are slightly different this time, though, given the finals have been expanded from 32 to 48 teams and potentially seven could get there from the CONMEBOL section.
Brazil are the most successful side in World Cup history with five titles, and they are the only nation to qualify for every edition of the tournament since 1930.
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Fernando Diniz replaced Ramon Menezes as Brazil's second interim head coach inside the past six months as their post-World Cup fallout continues.
The The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) is yet to appoint a permanent successor to Tite, with Diniz only agreeing a one-year contract, as links to a 2024 move for Carlo Ancelotti continue to grow.
Below are the projected starting lineups for both teams ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifying match at the Estadio Olimpico do Para, in Belem, Brazil on September 8.
Brazil starting XI (4-3-1-2): Ederson (GK) — Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Lodi — Guimaraes, Casemiro, Joelinton — Neymar — Rodrygo, Jesus
Diniz is expected to tweak the side used by Menezes with the fit-again Neymar Jr recalle
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