Samba Legion s century choice! Ancelotti s first national team coach triggers a football earthquake

The Brazilian Football Association officially announced on May 12, 2025 that the 65-year-old Italian coach Ancelotti will take over the Brazilian national team's coach, and the contract will be until the 2026 World Cup. This pioneering appointment ended Brazilian football's 109-year tradition of adhering to local coaching and marked a strategic transformation of a South American football powerhouse. As the first foreign coach to take charge of five-star Brazil, Ancelotti will lead this team with five World Cup championships to compete in the 2026 US, Canada and Mexico World Cup. His coaching team has all been in place, and his debut is scheduled to be the World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador on June 6.

Brazil Football Association Chairman Ednaldo Rodriguez emphasized at the signing ceremony that the appointment is based on the realistic consideration of the national team's continued sluggish performance in international competitions in the past five years. Data shows that Brazil has stopped in the quarterfinals twice in the last three World Cups, and was eliminated by Croatia in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the quarterfinals. FIFA's ranking has fallen from a long-term top three to fifth place, and the South American qualifiers are temporarily ranked fourth, forcing management to seek change. Ancelotti's club coaching resume shows that he has won 21 important trophies in his career, including a record 5 Champions League championships, and is the only head coach to achieve the Grand Slam of the five major European leagues. This successful experience has become the key basis for the decision-making of the Brazilian Football Association.

The innovation of the tactical system constitutes the core challenge of this term. Brazil has exposed significant offensive and defensive imbalances in recent years, with averaging 1.2 goals per game in the 2023 Cup of America, an increase of 47% from 2019. The 4-3-3 flexible offensive and defensive system built by Ancelotti during his coaching at Real Madrid will face the test of the integration of South American football tradition and European tactical concepts. It is worth noting that the current Brazilian team includes four Real Madrid players, including Vinicius and Rodrigo. Their technical characteristics are highly consistent with An Shuai's tactical system, which provides the possibility for the rapid realization of tactical iteration. The technical department of the Brazilian Football Association revealed that it has planned a preparation plan for 8 high-intensity warm-up matches, focusing on improving defensive conversion efficiency and set-piece offense and defense quality.

The chain effect caused by this personnel change is emerging. The termination agreement between Ancelotti and Real Madrid includes a liquidated damages worth 8 million euros. The physical coach Pintus and tactical analyst Davide confirmed to be with him. A domestic poll in Brazil showed that 42% of respondents supported the activation of foreign coaches, an increase of 27 percentage points from three years ago, reflecting the fans' expectations for change. Wenger, director of the Technical Development Department of FIFA, commented that this is a landmark event in the construction of a national team in the era of global football and may trigger the adjustment of the employment strategy of a traditional football power.

Faced with the severe challenges of the 2026 World Cup, Ancelotti's coaching will undergo a double-dimensional test: it is necessary to continue the technical aesthetics of Brazilian football, but also to inject more efficient competitive elements. The phased goals set by the Brazilian Football Association show that the 2025 Copa America finals and the 2026 World Cup are at least one of the semi-finals. The success or failure of this historic appointment is not only related to the revival process of Brazilian football, but also an important yardstick to measure the effectiveness of the national team's modernization reform.

Reference:

1. Official announcement of Brazilian Football Association (May 12, 2025)

2. Romano's signing confirmation statement (May 12, 2025)

3. Real Madrid Club termination statement (May 12, 2025)

4. FIFA Technical Report (April 2025)

5. Datafolha Investigation Report of Brazilian polling agency (May 2025)