Carlo Ancelotti is on vacation in Europe, from where he will travel to Brazil
As he announced at the press conference after qualifying Brazil for the 2026 World Cup, Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti is packing his bags to land in the United States and watch the semifinals and final of the FIFA Club World Cup at MetLife Stadium, the venue for the last three matches of the FIFA tournament.
Ancelotti is on vacation in Europe, where he has been watching the competition games and evaluating the Brazilian players registered for the World Cup. The country had 141 registered players — 95 for Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Palmeiras — and another 48 for foreign teams. No other nation was as represented as the Brazilian school in the tournament.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) reports that Carlo Ancelotti will travel to the United States next Monday (7). Before him, the coordinator of the men’s teams, Rodrigo Caetano, and the coordinator Juan will arrive on Wednesday.
The national team coach had announced, after the 1-0 victory over Paraguay in São Paulo, his plan to come to the FIFA Club World Cup after taking a break after the Real Madrid season and starting work at the CBF.
“First, find a place to live. Second, yes, go to the Club World Cup. Third, I have a long list of players who are all over the world, in Brazil, Europe, Arabia. There are about 70 players. We will have time to evaluate each one. All 70 of them can go to the World Cup. There is no definitive list of 25 or 26. I really liked the attitude, commitment and atmosphere that these players brought to this first call-up,” he explained.
In addition to the praised campaign of the four Brazilian teams, players who were decisive in Al Hilal’s qualification against Manchester City caught Ancelotti’s attention on TV. Left-back Renan Lodi and forwards Malcom and Marcos Leonardo led the Saudi side’s triumph against Pep Guardiola’s team.
