Carlo Ancelotti and Brazil: A match made in World Cup heaven - or are the Selecao too flawed for their manager to matter?

Ancelotti has long been Brazil's dream manager. "He is unanimously respected among players," former Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues told Reuters all the way back in 2023, "not only Ronaldo Nazario or Vinicius Junior, but all those that have played for him.

"I really admire him for his honesty in the way he works and how consistent his work is. He needs no introduction. He is really a top coach who has several achievements and we hope he can have even more.

"And Ancelotti is not only the players' favourite, but it seems the fans' too. Everywhere I go in Brazil, in every stadium, he is the first name the supporters ask me about. They talk about him in a very affectionate way, in recognition of the exemplary work he has done in his career.

"Let's have faith in God, wait for the appropriate time and we'll see if we can make it happen as we look for the new coach of the Brazilian national team."

Tellingly, the players were just as excited about the prospect of Ancelotti taking over. Ederson even joked about doing his utmost to help Manchester City knock Madrid out of the Champions League "so that Ancelotti can come to Brazil as quickly as possible!"

Ancelotti admitted himself that the constant talk of him succeeding Tite as the Selecao's permanent coach had been brought up in a Madrid dressing containing Casemiro, Vinicius, Eder Militao and Rodrygo.

"We are friends," the Italian said, "so they joke and laugh about it a lot. But the reality is different: I have a contract until 2024." And Ancelotti didn't just honour that agreement, he ended up extending it until 2026, which appeared to put paid to Brazil's hopes of the Italian leading their World Cup campaign.

However, things change quickly in football, and particularly at the Bernabeu, where Florentino Perez decided it was time for an overhaul after a trying 2024-25 season that ended trophy-less.

Ancelotti wasn't the least bit bitter. "If someone had said we could win 11 trophies in four years, I would have signed up for that in blood," he admitted. "This year wasn’t good, but the period has been unforgettable.

"I don’t regret a thing. I’ve had a good time, I think everyone has, but everything comes to a close. Football, like life, is an adventure that ends one day." And it helped that he already had another adventure lined up.

International football was essentially the final frontier for Ancelotti, the coach who had conquered Europe five times in total (twice with AC Milan and three times with Madrid), and the only man to have won all five of the continent's 'Big Five' leagues.

There was also no bigger job than Brazil - in every sense. The five-time world champions haven't lifted the trophy since 2002 and have fallen on hard times.

The problem wasn't so much that they were no longer winning; it was more that they were losing their identity. Brazil were no longer playing with their famed flamboyance. A nation renowned for its 'Jogo Bonito' had become boring - and that was too much for some fans to take. Ronaldinho even retired from supporting the Selecao in 2024 - before the Copa America.

"That's it folks, I've had enough," the iconic No.10 posted on Instagram after watching a 1-1 friendly draw with the United States. "This is a sad moment for those who love Brazilian football. It's getting hard to find the spirit to watch the games.

"This is perhaps one of the worst teams in recent years. It has no respectable leaders, only average players for the majority."

Brazil's players were unsurprisingly hurt by Ronaldinho's criticism, particularly Raphinha, but it's not as if they did anything to prove the World Cup winner wrong. On the contrary, the Selecao were atrocious at the 2024 Copa America, eliminated on penalties by Uruguay in the quarter-finals, after winning just one of their four games.

Somewhat surprisingly, then-coach Dorival managed to hold onto his job - but only until March 2025, when he was sacked after a humiliating 4-1 World Cup qualifying loss at home to bitter rivals Argentina.

In that context, Ancelotti's belated arrival was precisely the pick-me-up Brazil needed - especially as the CBF was caught up in a corruption scandal.

"It's a statement to the world that we are determined to regain the top spot on the podium," Rodrigues declared last May. "He's the greatest coach in history and now he's in charge of the greatest team on the planet. Together, we will write glorious new chapters for Brazilian football."

Not everyone saw Ancelotti's appointment as such a cause for celebration. Some former Selecao players lamented the need to look overseas for a new manager due to the lack of credible candidates at home.

Nonetheless, World Cup-winning coaches Carlos Alberto Parreira and Luiz Felipe Scolari both welcomed the Italian with open arms - literally in the case of the latter, who turned up at Ancelotti's official unveiling - while even Ronaldinho came out of retirement to get back on the Brazil bandwagon.

"We've worked together, and I know him well," the iconic No.10 said of his former Milan boss. "I think it's a good decision by the federation, I like it. As a Brazilian, I am happy, and I hope he can do a great job with the next World Cup."

Whether he will or not remains very much unclear as the tournament approaches.

Ancelotti has overseen 11 games so far - and only won six of them. To say that performances have been patchy would also be putting it mildly, with November's 3-2 loss away to Japan perhaps the best illustration of Brazil's maddening inconsistency. Ancelotti's men led 2-0 at the break in Tokyo, but conceded three times in less than 20 second-half minutes as they were beaten by the Blue Samurai for the first time ever.

However, the 2-1 friendly defeat to France in March was arguably even more worrying, given Les Bleus played with 10 men for more than 35 minutes. Indeed, it was actually hard to know what was more concerning: Brazil's dour display before Dayot Upamecano's dismissal - or Ancelotti stating he was satisfied with the Selecao's showing.

"I think today's game makes it very clear to me," Ancelotti told reporters, "that we can compete with the best teams in the world."

It was difficult to know exactly what he was basing that on, given Brazil had been restricted to just 35.4 percent possession during the first half, and also failed to register a single shot on target.

So, while the match may have "convinced" Ancelotti of his team's ability to mount a serious World Cup challenge, in reality, it only cast further doubt over the strength of his squad - and increased calls for Neymar's return.

For a country once able to name Roberto Carlos and Cafu in the same side, Brazil are shockingly short on world-class quality at full-back, with the unproven duo of Wesley and Douglas Santos likely to start their tournament-opener against a very dangerous Morocco side on June 13.

Casemiro's continued importance at the age of 34 also reflects horribly on the younger generation of midfielders, and there's a very real fear that Brazil would completely break down were anything to happen to Newcastle powerhouse Bruno Guimaraes.

In a bid to avoid overloading the engine room, Ancelotti now appears set to abandon his ambitious plan to play 4-2-4 at the World Cup to facilitate the addition of another man in midfield - perhaps the in-form and dynamic Danilo.

However, the coach also desperately needs someone to catch fire up front, given a plethora of strikers have tried and failed to make the No.9 jersey their own over the past four years. Hence, the clamour for Neymar to be recalled.

The former Barcelona superstar is no No.9, but he is the most prolific player in Brazil's history, and also one of their most popular, which helps explain why Ancelotti decided to give the people what they wanted by including Neymar in his 26-strong squad.

The 66-year-old is no fool. He knows full well that Brazil "don't have Pele, Romario and Ronaldo" - but in Neymar he has a player who could add an awful lot off the field, even if he proves incapable of offering anything on it.

Casemiro & Co. were genuinely enthused by the Santos attacker's inclusion, and Ancelotti knows better than anyone else that a happy group so often makes for a successful group.

His tactical acumen may still be criminally underrated, but there's no denying that Ancelotti's ability to unite divided dressing rooms is what sets him apart from his peers. He's the master of man-management, a likeable leader capable of convincing even the most egotistical of individuals to put the team first, making Ancelotti and Brazil look like a match made in football heaven.

Admittedly, the coach could have done with more time to prepare for the World Cup. He knows his side still have plenty of problems, and he's painfully aware that they're far from flawless. But as Ancelotti says himself, "There's no perfect team in the tournament." Just one with the best possible boss for the biggest job in football.