Chile and Brazil will complete the first half of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying (WCQ) well short of where they would have liked and expected to be, irrespective of the result of this meeting in Santiago. Thanks to just one win from their first eight qualifiers (D2, L5), Chile can’t even finish this round in the inter-confederation play-off position despite it being demoted from fifth to seventh for this edition.
Chile and Brazil will complete the first half of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying (WCQ) well short of where they would have liked and expected to be, irrespective of the result of this meeting in Santiago. Thanks to just one win from their first eight qualifiers (D2, L5), Chile can’t even finish this round in the inter-confederation play-off position despite it being demoted from fifth to seventh for this edition. They’re on a five-game winless run in the first year of Ricardo Gareca’s stint as manager, one of which saw him spectate a 0-0 draw with Canada during a one-game ban. They’ve conceded nine unanswered goals in their last four H2Hs with Brazil (L4) and appear in no shape to turn that around. Gareca certainly wouldn’t appreciate being reminded then that his predecessors Martín Lasarte and Eduardo Berizzo couldn’t last 18 months at the helm because of poor results. But this could be a very timely meeting for the hosts with the Brazilians continuing to endure what is some horrendous form by their usual lofty standards. Brazil head coach Dorival Júnior, who himself has never been able to retain a job longer than two years in a 22-year career, holds one of the worst win rates (40%) of any Brazil national team coach this century after they lost 1-0 in Paraguay last month. The five-time World Cup winners started each of their last seven games as favourites but emerged as victors from only two (D3, L2), underlining just how much they’ve struggled this year. Their problems haven’t been exclusive just to 2024 and Dorival, with four of their eight games on opposition soil since the last World Cup, including friendlies, ending in defeat (W2, D2). Players to watch: Chile forward Víctor Dávila won his last eight games for club or country when scoring, so it could be a good sign that two of them came in September. Brazilian Raphinha earned a recall to the national team following some strong performances for Barcelona that culminated in six goals across his last six competitive starts. Hot stat: Despite winning only two of their last seven games, Brazil didn’t concede more than once in any. Written by 90 Live
