Our last game before the World Cup is our second ever against Tunisia.

Brazil vs Tunisia

Parc Des Princes, Paris, France, September 27, 2022

Kickoff: 2:30 PM EDT / 3:30 PM BRT / 6:30 PM GMT

US TV/Streaming: FuboTV, BeinSports Connect 4

Starting Lineup: Alisson, Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Telles; Casemiro, Fred, Lucas Paquetá; Neymar, Richarlison, Raphinha.

On The Bench: Ederson, Weverton, Éder Militão, Ibañez, Bremer, Renan Lodi, Fabinho, Éverton Ribeiro, Bruno Guimarães, Antony, Firmino, Rodrygo, Vini Jr., Pedro, Matheus Cunha.

Notes and Storylines

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Brazil’s penultimate game before the World Cup, and still so many questions to be answered.

Brazil vs Ghana

Stade Océane, Le Havre, France, September 23, 2022

Kickoff: 2:30 PM EDT / 3:30 PM BRT / 6:30 PM GMT

US TV/Streaming: FuboTV, BeinSports Connect 4

Starting Lineup: Alisson, Éder Militão, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Telles; Casemiro, Lucas Paquetá; Neymar, Vini Jr., Richarlison, Raphinha.

On The Bench: Ederson, Weverton, Danilo, Ibañez, Bremer, Renan Lodi, Fabinho, Éverton Ribeiro, Bruno Guimarães, Fred, Antony, Firmino, Rodrygo, Pedro, Matheus Cunha.

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(Well, hi y’all! Sorry for not posting anything for a while. I was planning to write a preview/prediction for this callup, but life got in the way, so I’m just doing this reaction post for now.)

Today, Tite called up the Brazil squad for our last round of friendlies before the World Cup in November—against Ghana on September 23 and against Tunisia on the 27th, both being played in France. And he chose an… interesting mix of 26 players, to say the least. Here they are:

Goalkeepers

• Alisson – Liverpool
• Ederson – Manchester City
• Weverton – Palmeiras

Center-backs

• Bremer – Juventus
• Militão – Real Madrid
• Marquinhos – PSG
• Ibañez – Roma
• Thiago Silva – Chelsea

Fullbacks

• Danilo – Juventus
• Alex Sandro – Juventus
• Alex Telles – Sevilla

Midfielders

• Bruno Guimarães – Newcastle
• Casemiro – Manchester United
• Everton Ribeiro – Flamengo
• Fabinho – Liverpool
• Fred – Manchester United
• Paquetá – West Ham

Forwards

• Antony – Manchester United
• Firmino – Liverpool
• Matheus Cunha – Atlético de Madrid
• Neymar – PSG
• Pedro – Flamengo
• Raphinha – Barcelona
• Richarlison – Tottenham
• Rodrygo – Real Madrid
• Vinicius Júnior – Real Madrid

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Brazil vs. South Korea

Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, June 2, 2022

Kickoff: 7:00 AM EDT / 8:00 AM BRT / 11:00 AM GMT

US Streaming: BeIN Sports Connect

Starting Lineup: Ederson, Daniel Alves, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Sandro; Fred, Bruno Guimarães, Lucas Paquetá; Raphinha, Neymar, Richarlison.

On The Bench: Alisson, Weverton, Éder Militão, Léo Ortiz, Gabriel Magalhães, Guilherme Arana, Alex Telles, Fabinho, Casemiro, Danilo (of Palmeiras), Gabriel Martinelli, Rodrygo, Coutinho, Gabriel Jesus, Vini Jr, Matheus Cunha.

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Brazil vs. Japan

Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, June 6, 2022

Kickoff: 6:20 AM EDT / 7:20 AM BRT / 10:20 AM GMT

US Streaming: BeIN Sports Connect

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Notes and Storylines

Soooo our plans to make something meaningful of this FIFA date kind of blew up. We were going to play a third game against Argentina, in Australia, on the 11th, but the Argentine federation decided at the last minute that they didn’t want to play—leaving it too late for us to find another opponent, leaving Tite and his staff very upset, and leaving the 50,000 Aussies who’d apparently already bought tickets feeling screwed. And with the fate of that postponed World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina still up in the air—FIFA wants it to be played on September 22nd, but both federations just want to cancel it at this point—we may have to keep dealing with scheduling headaches until the eve of the World Cup.

Anyway. That leaves us with two games this week against teams that, while decent, probably aren’t the sort of opponent we need to be testing our mettle against to make sure we don’t fall once again to the first European opponent we face in the World Cup knockout rounds. So what are these games good for? Well, trying some new things, I guess. And with a pile of first-teamers being rested for Thursday’s game thanks to having just played in the Champions League final, that has resulted in Tite making a few intriguing selections—namely, with Casemiro and Fabinho both getting a rest, Fred and Bruno Guimarães will anchor the midfield together, while Richarlison joins the Neymar-Paquetá-Raphinha front four that kickstarted our recent run of good performances with that 4-1 win over Uruguay.

On the other hand, ugh, I hate having to complain about this once again, but it feels like Tite’s playing it too safe. Sticking to Dani Alves and Alex Sandro as the fullbacks (especially since Tite passed up the opportunity to call up a right-back to replace the injured Danilo)? Sticking to the Thiago Silva-Marquinhos pairing even against the sort of opposition where you could give Gabriel Magalhães a start? This would be a great time to take more risks. That said, maybe I’m being too harsh. It has been a while since Alex Sandro has gotten a chance to start, and he’s clearly still Tite’s first-choice LB even if we all think he sucks. Maybe it’s better to ease Magalhães into things, since he’s only the fourth-choice center-back.

I dunno. I figure these will be fairly easy games, so at the very least I hope we see Magalhães finally get the Brazil cap he somehow still does not have. And that Palmeiras’ promising youngster Danilo gets a little time too. And that we finally get some sort of clarity about who can reliably score goals for this team. Is it Richarlison? Matheus Cunha? Gabriel Martinelli? Gabriel Jesus? Okay, it’s probably not the last one. Last two, really. Quite possibly last three. Sorry, Matheus. Ya gotta stop missing so many sitters for Atlético.

Anyways, prediction time! I think we win these games pretty handily. I’m seeing a 3-0 win over South Korea and a 5-2 win over Japan. Actually, you know what, the Japan thing poses an interesting question. Neymar looooves playing against Japan. With eight goals in four appearances, including the Puskás Award nominee at the top of this post, they’re his favorite prey in a Brazil jersey. But you have to figure Tite will want to also fit Vini Jr. into the starting lineup after his Champions League heroics. How will that work? I’m hoping Ney through the middle, or as a false nine, with VJ on the left, but I think what we actually get will be somehow clunkier—like VJ on the right.

Tite just called up 27 players for our June friendlies against South Korea (June 2), Japan (June 6), and a TBD African opponent (June 11) since the planned friendly against Australia was cancelled at the last minute. Here’s the squad, copy/pasted from Globo:

Goleiros: Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City) e Weverton (Palmeiras);

Zagueiros: Eder Militão (Real Madrid), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal), Marquinhos (PSG) e Thiago Silva (Chelsea)

Laterais: Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Danilo (Juventus), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Alex Telles (Manchester United), Guilherme Arana (Atlético-MG);

Meio-Campistas: Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Danilo (Palmeiras) Fabinho (Liverpool), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paquetá (Lyon), Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa);

Atacantes: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Matheus Cunha (Atlético de Madri), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Raphinha (Leeds United), Richarlison (Everton), Rodrygo (Real Madrid) e Vini Júnior (Real Madrid).

Very quick takeaways:

• At this point, we have a very clear idea of where the competition remains for positions and who on the outside still has a chance. For instance, Gabigol and Everton Ribeiro have now been left out of three of the last four squads, suggesting that they’ve fallen hard out of favor (compare to Gabriel Jesus, who got left out last time but returns here). Gerson and Edenilson are among the others in the same boat; on the flipside, Bruno Guimarães’ good performances seem to have cemented him firmly in Tite’s good graces, and Matheus Cunha’s upside still seems to outweigh his middling performances for Atlético Madrid since his return from injury.
• The big remaining competition is left-back, where Tite has called up seemingly his three preferred options for the two spots. I’m disappointed to see Renan Lodi remains left out. He’s been playing more as a wingback for Atlético, but he’s better going forward than any of the three guys Tite called and is at least as good defensively as the (admittedly pretty lax) Alex Telles. If FIFA does end up allowing 26-man squads at the World Cup, Lodi would be a tempting option for one of those three extra spots, as he brings the ability to play on the left side in a very different way from our other LBs.
• The surprise inclusion is Danilo of Palmeiras, a very highly rated 21-year-old midfielder. I’m still not too familiar with him, but he seems to combine defensive adeptness with a good passing range and a knack for snatching the occasional important goal. I’d certainly rather have him than Ribeiro or Edenilson, and I’m curious to see him get some game time, but I can’t help but wonder if this is a bit of an olive branch to all the Casagrandes of the world who insist that Tite should be calling up more players based in Brazil. (Then again, the guy they really want to be called up is Danilo’s teammate Raphael Veiga, so who knows?)

Bolivia vs. Brazil

Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia, March 29, 2022

Kickoff: 7:30 PM EDT / 8:30 PM BRT / 11:30 PM GMT

Starting Lineup: Alisson, Daniel Alves, Marquinhos, Éder Militão, Alex Telles; Fabinho, Bruno Guimarães, Lucas Paquetá; Antony, Coutinho, Richarlison.

On The Bench: Everson, Santos, Danilo, Thiago Silva, Felipe, Guilherme Arana, Fred, Arthur, Casemiro, Gabriel Martinelli, Rodrygo.

New Absences: Neymar, Vini Jr. (both suspended), Weverton (hand injury, replaced by Santos).

Notes and Storylines

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Brazil vs. Chile

Maracanã, Rio De Janeiro, March 24, 2022

Kickoff: 7:30 PM EDT / 8:30 PM BRT / 11:30 PM GMT

Starting XI: Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Guilherme Arana; Casemiro, Fred, Lucas Paquetá; Antony, Neymar, Vini Jr.

On The Bench: Ederson, Weverton, Dani Alves, Felipe, Éder Militão, Alex Telles, Bruno Guimarães, Fabinho, Arthur, Rodrygo, Richarlison, Gabriel Martinelli, Philippe Coutinho.

Late Cuts: Raphinha (COVID), Gabriel Magalhães (about to become a father; replaced by Felipe).

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Brazil vs. Paraguay

Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, February 1, 2022

Kickoff: 7:30 PM EDT / 9:30 PM BRT / 11:30 PM GMT

Possible Starting XI: Ederson; Dani Alves, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Telles; Fabinho, Lucas Paquetá, Philippe Coutinho; Raphinha, Matheus Cunha, Vini Jr.

On The Bench: Alisson, Weverton, Thiago Silva, Bruno Guimarães, Casemiro, Fred, Gerson, Everton Ribeiro, Gabriel Jesus, Gabigol, Rodrygo, Antony.

Notes and Storylines

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Ecuador vs. Brazil

Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado, Quito, January 27, 2022

Kickoff: 4:00 PM EDT / 6:00 PM BRT / 8:00 PM GMT

Possible Starting XI: Alisson; Emerson Royal, Thiago Silva, Éder Militão, Alex Sandro; Casemiro, Fred, Philippe Coutinho; Raphinha, Matheus Cunha, Vinícius Júnior.

On The Bench: Ederson, Weverton, Dani Alves, Alex Telles, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães, Bruno Guimarães, Gerson, Everton Ribeiro, Gabriel Jesus, Rodrygo, Antony, Gabriel Jesus, Gabigol.

Notes and Storylines

The biggest question mark surrounding this game, and indeed this whole international break, is this: will we find answers to any of our problem positions? As I discussed in my last post, it’s still not clear that who our best options are at right-back, left-back, center-forward, and central midfield, let alone if Tite’s actually playing them. We may get some answers for two of those in this game. The injury to Danilo has given Emerson Royal a fresh chance to start at RB, and while he hasn’t been particularly impressive for Tottenham, he combined really well with Raphinha the last time he started for Brazil, bringing the best out of the winger in a way Danilo really hasn’t. Up front, it seems like Tite may be settling on Matheus Cunha as his first choice striker, which I agree with on paper: since none of our striker options can score goals consistently, play the one who can do the most beyond scoring goals. But I still think Cunha actually needs to score a goal or two, or at least evidently make it easier for his teammates to score goals, to really cement his case, especially since it sounds like Tite may try some different players against Paraguay next week.

In the other two problem positions, we’re seeing nobody new, a shame when neither Alex Sandro nor Fred has proven to be an exceptional player. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong against Paraguay, but you get the sense that Tite is only trying the new faces he is trying because the regulars in those positions are unavailable, and wouldn’t otherwise.

The other big storyline concerns whether Vini Jr. and Philippe Coutinho can perform for Brazil. Neymar’s injury and Lucas Paquetá’s suspension have given them both a chance to start, and each has a lot to prove. VJ played well as a starter in Brazil’s last game against Argentina, but it was his first truly good performance in a yellow jersey and he still has yet to score his first Seleção goal. He’s not as capable a playmaker as Neymar is, but if he can be the sort of goal threat that he is for Real Madrid, maybe he’ll compel Tite to find a way to play the two of them together in the future. (Tite’s comments on Coutinho playing Neymar’s role suggest he’s already working on it.)

Coutinho, for his part, has struggled immensely throughout his deeply troubled time at Barcelona, but Tite and his staff have always maintained faith in his ability. They believe the Coutinho from Liverpool, the Coutinho who was probably our best player at the 2018 World Cup, is still there, just needing a supportive, functional environment to flourish again. The question is whether that is truly the case, whether leaving the mess that is Barcelona is enough for him to reclaim his form and confidence. Certainly the early evidence from his move to Aston Villa has been very, very good. But I can’t help but feel like starting for Brazil right now might be too much, too soon. He may need more than a couple of games with Villa to truly get back to a headspace where he can thrive week in, week out. And that’s leaving aside his many injury problems in the past two years, which may diminish him even if he’s already back to his best mentally.

As for a prediction, well, Ecuador are having a really strong World Cup qualifying campaign, and this is an away game in the high altitude of Quito, and we struggled a bit for goals in November’s games, even with Raphinha drastically improving the right flank. Still, I’m going to keep faith that Emerson can bring out the best in Raphinha like he did against Uruguay, and bet on the athleticism of Raphinha and Vini Jr. being too much for Ecuador, and predict a 2-0 win for us. Away and at altitude, I think that would be a pretty good result.

Happy 2022, everybody! I was going to whip up a “it’s a World Cup year, what positions does the Seleção still need to sort out?” post, but then I remembered that Tite’s about to call up his squad for the extra round of World Cup qualifiers this month, so I figured I’d incorporate that as well.

First, the important info—Tite’s calling up the squad on Thursday, January 13th; he may call as many as 26 players instead of the required 23; and he’s not likely to call any players based in Brazil since they are just now returning from their end-of-season break. Additionally, Neymar, Richarlison, and Danilo are injured and almost certain to not be called. Our games are against Ecuador (away) on the 27th and then at home to Paraguay on February 1st.

With our place in Qatar mathematically guaranteed, the only thing really on the line in these games is the pride of going through World Cup qualifying unbeaten. (Believe it or not, we haven’t lost a World Cup qualifier since the first matchday of the 2018 qualifiers—a 30-game streak!) But it’s certainly more important to use these games to give some new names a try and find the best options for open spots on the World Cup roster. Tite’s never been one to call up a whole team of untested players, but hopefully we get a healthy crop of new names, or at least some worthwhile experiments that settle down some of our problem positions.

And what are our problem positions? To answer that, I’m going to go through the 11 positions that make up Tite’s typical setup, assess the apparent candidates, and rank them based on how safe their spot at the World Cup seems to be. Locks for Qatar and players Looking Likely to make the cut should be self-explanatory; those In The Mix have a good chance but still face serious competition to win their place; those Outside Looking In have been part of the team in the recent past but appear to have lost favor and don’t have more than a slim chance of returning; and Pipe Dreams are players who aren’t currently in the Brazil picture at all but who I think might have something significant to offer if given the chance.

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