Brazil hopes to have a new national team coach this month ahead of two qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup, and fans are impatient as negotiations with Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti drag on.
Two anonymous sources at the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed to The Associated Press that talks with Ancelotti are ongoing, but that they are complicated by the fact that he has a contract with Real for another season.
One source said CBF president Ednaldo Rodriguez and national team director Rodrigo Caetano are involved in the talks.
“And they are keeping the negotiations under control. It is clear that there is no agreement with anyone at the moment,” the source said.
He added that the CBF “is not in a hurry,” although he acknowledged that Brazil hopes to present a new coach before May 20, when the roster for the two qualifying matches in June is due to be announced.
Brazil has been without a coach since Dorival was sacked on March 28, three days after a 4-1 defeat to Argentina in Buenos Aires.
After a poor season at Real, speculation has intensified that Ancelotti will leave the club. The team failed to defend its Champions League title after being eliminated by Arsenal in the quarter-finals on aggregate, and lost the Copa del Rey final to Barcelona, who trail them by four points with five games remaining.
Real have made no comment on Ancelotti, who has dodged questions about Brazil, saying he will stay at Real as long as president Florentino Perez wants him to.
Some Real fans believe it is time for the 65-year-old Italian coach to leave and are hoping that Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso will take over.
In Brazil, pressure is mounting on the CBF to appoint a coach after a series of poor results and performances.
Brazil has not reached the World Cup finals since winning the title in 2002. Brazil last won a trophy at the Tokyo Olympics, when they won the gold medal.
The team is currently fourth in the South American qualifiers for the World Cup, 10 points behind leaders Argentina, which after 14 rounds has secured a place in the competition in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Brazilian media reported that Portuguese Jorge Jesus is an alternative if negotiations with Ancelotti fail.
Some expert consultants would like the Brazilian to lead the national team.
“We should let one of our coaches go. I would leave Derival in the job,” former international Cafu, who won two world titles in 1994 and 2002, told Brazilian television station SBT.
Sports commentator Galvano Bueno said the CBF had embarrassed Brazil with its choices since Tite left the national team at the end of 2022.
“What the CBF has done to Brazilian football is absurd. Four years with two interim coaches, that’s a shame. Since January 2023, we’ve been discussing whether Ancelotti is coming or not. It seems completely ridiculous,” he said.
Brazil will play Ecuador on June 6 and Paraguay four days later.
Real Madrid will play their last league match on May 25, after which the club will participate in the Club World Cup, which takes place in the United States from June 14 to July 13.
