Forget Jogo Bonito - Brazil are a mess! No wins in four, injuries galore and in managerial flux as Copa America looms

Tite always promised he would resign after the 2022 World Cup but few thought he would actually stick to his word. It made even less sense that he did so after such a disappointing campaign in Qatar. The Selecao, among the favourites to win the whole thing, could have few complaints about their quarter-final exit to an aging Croatia side.

He left all the same, without the Brazilian FA having a replacement lined up. So started a cycle of managerial chaos. Ramon Menezes came in on an interim basis, but a battering to Senegal saw him swiftly relieved of his duties. Ancelotti was supposed to be next - Rodrigues eager to bring him in immediately.

Instead, he turned to Diniz, which seemed an odd appointment. Although he had won the Copa Libertadores with Fluminense, the journeyman had something of a reputation for failing to hold down jobs at the top tier of management - and had never stayed with one club for more than two years. There didn't seem to be much wrong with picking a winner, but if stability was the goal here, then Diniz didn't seem the right person for the job.

And so it proved. Diniz won just two of his first five contests in charge and the Selecao were struggling at both ends of the pitch. Despite having some of the world's best attacking talent at their disposal, they only found the net eight times in those five fixtures.

Things weren't much better defensively. Although Marquinhos and Gabriel made a formidable duo in the middle, the Selecao were far too exploitable down the wings - Vinicius Jr and Raphinha's penchant for scampering up either sideline leaving them exploitable in the full-back positions. Diniz did little to address the apparent issue, and opponents soon capitalised.

They conceded the same goal twice to Colombia, sweeping moves down the Brazil left followed by teasing balls hit to the far post accounting for Luis Diaz's brace in a World Cup qualifier. Uruguay went about things in much the same way, two cut-backs from the left channel sealing their victory. Venezuela's late equaliser was perhaps less preventable - bicycle kicks are seldom the fault of defenders - but the original ball came from the same area.

And then, Argentina. Must-win games don't really exist for the Selecao outside of international tournaments. This is, after all, a side that is used to playing in the latter rounds of the biggest competitions - they expect to win all the time. This one, however, against their most bitter of rivals, felt seismic. Brazil had lost three in a row before the crunch game, and were attempting to avoid what would be a first ever home loss in World Cup qualifying.

Things were ugly from before the opening whistle. Brazil fans clashed with their Argentine counterparts, while local police did little to temper the violence. There was scattered talk that the game could be abandoned, and Lionel Messi led the Albiceste into the dressing room in protest.

Still, the fixture went on, and it was an embarrassment for Diniz. It was ugly, with both sides being dragged into a tepid midfield battle before Nicolas Otamendi's 63rd-minute header sealed a 1-0 victory. Diniz simply couldn't keep his job.

The result is a Brazil side that face the possibility of not qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. FIFA expanded the tournament ahead of the 2026 iteration, allowing 48 teams to play in North America. Six teams out of 11 from South America will now qualify. It is, statistically, more difficult to miss the tournament than to make it.

That being said, if qualification was finalised today, the Selecao would be forced into a tenuous playoff as the sixth-placed team in the table. They have only tallied seven points from six games, winning two of them and losing three. They will still likely turn things around; Brazil are, theoretically, too big to miss the whole thing, but this sort of extreme pressure, at this juncture of the footballing calendar, isn't the norm for a team of their pedigree.

So who next? The Selecao have now appointed their third interim manager of the last 15 months, less than half a year after they thought they had locked up one of the world's best. The newest recruit, Dorival Junior, comes from similarly underwhelming circumstances. A journeyman and veteran of Brazil's Serie A, Dorival comes into the fold having never won a top-flight league title, with the 2022 Copa Libertadores standing as the only major title to his name.

There is, of course, a caveat. The interim manager certainly had to be Brazilian, and there is something of a dearth of top-level coaches coming out of the country these days. Indeed, this isn't an appointment that inspires confidence. Dorival, for his part, has expressed nothing but excitement at the prospect of turning things around.

"We can use the help of the people to start finding solutions. I want the people to make suggestions for how we can try to solve the problems so that we once again can create a team that gives the fans confidence but, above all, so that fans can see themselves in this team," he told the Guardian.

This is all made harder by the litany of injuries the Selecao are being forced to contend with. Neymar's ACL tear sent Brazil into a tailspin against Uruguay, and there are entirely reasonable questions as to whether he'll ever be able to pull on the famous yellow shirt again.

But it's not just their talismanic presence missing. The new boss had to rule out 13 players from his original 50-man list for this window. Alisson Becker and Ederson - two top-class goalkeepers - are out. Gabriel, Marquinhos and Eder Militao are all sidelined. The same goes for Casemiro and Gabriel Martinelli.

Piece it all together, and the Selecao are missing half of a full-strength starting XI, with a manager who has never coached at a national level. There's very little to get excited about.

This would all seem to suit Gareth Southgate rather well. England aren't quite at their best, but this is a squad that needs fine-tuning - not overhauling - before Euro 2024. There are fears about the state of Harry Kane's ankles, questions about Jordan Henderson's quality in midfield, and heated debate on the general reliability of Harry Maguire at the back. Still, zoom out, and this is a talented group - undoubtedly the Three Lions' best in years.

This international break is mostly a time for tweaking, too. These friendlies aren't supposed to be forums for overhaul or reconstruction. Brazil, in an ideal world, would be using the next two weeks to finalise their Copa America squad. They need to pick a reliable striker, or figure out which full-back can best support Vinicius Jr. Instead, they are faced with questions all over the pitch, led by a manager who doesn't necessarily know how to answer them.