Brazil travel to Santiago to face Chile in a must-win CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualifier on Thursday night. Dorival Junior is under increasing pressure as Brazil manager, despite having only been in the role for less than 12
months, as the Selecao are vulnerable to missing out on the World Cup for the first time in their history. Crisis point has not quite yet been reached within the Brazil national setup, but a poor October could well see panic spread across the nation.
Brazil are the only nation to have featured at every single World Cup since its inception in 1930, but they face the remarkable threat of not reaching the 2026 finals, despite its expansion to 48 teams.
CONMEBOL have been handed an extra two automatic qualifying spots, and that could be Brazil's reprieve as they would currently be outside of them had the format not been expanded.
On current form though, there is no guarantee that Brazil will remain in the top six, with Venezuela, Paraguay and Bolivia breathing down their neck.
After eight matches, Brazil have taken just 10 points, and are level with Venezuela, and just
one ahead of Paraguay and Bolivia, and it was Paraguay who beat the Selecao on matchday eight last month.
It is therefore the perfect time to face the current bottom two in CONMEBOL qualifying, and Brazil's record is usually excellent against Chile, having lost just one of their last 19 meetings.
Chile's current form suggests there is little chance of them improving on their poor record against the Selecao, as they are in a full-blown crisis at present.
Brazil will be without goalkeeper Alisson after he sustained a hamstring injury in Liverpool's win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, meaning Ederson is set to win just his 26th cap.
Vinicius Junior has also been forced to withdraw due to a minor neck injury, meaning the Real Madrid front three has been split up, with Rodrygo and Endrick still set to feature.
Dorival Junior is dealing with a number of defensive injuries, as Bremer, Eder Militao and Guilherme Arana are all sidelined, so Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes is almost guaranteed to win his 10th cap here.
