Chile Vs Brazil: Break Bad Record To Stay In The Big Six

Brazil coach Dorival Junior. (X/@CBF_Futebol)

JAKARTA - Brazil is in crisis and needs victory in order to survive in the top six of the 2026 World Cup qualifying standings for the South American zone. For this mission, Brazil had to beat hosts Chile in the match at the Nacional Julio Mart Marijuz Prmendanos Stadium, Santiago de Chile, Friday, October 11, 2024 morning WIB.

Brazil is eager to compete in the qualifying round. The threat of absence for the first time at the World Cup is open because Brazil's position is really unsafe.

The 1-0 defeat to Paraguay in the last qualifying match made Brazil stuck in fifth place with 10 points. Luckily, they were ahead on goal difference with Venezuela so they could occupy that position.

The problem is not only Venezuela but also Paraguay and Bolivia which threaten Brazil. The two teams both pocketed nine points so that the competition for tickets to the United States/Canada/Mexico became tighter.

Yes, from the South American zone only the top six teams have qualified for the finals held by the three countries. If it fails, then Brazil will miss for the first time since the 1930 World Cup. Currently, Brazil is still the only country to never miss the World Cup.

Dorival Junior's heavy burden to restore the confidence of the players and keep Brazil in the top six. The problem is, Brazil's appearance was inconsistent even though it was still starbursting. In the 2024 Copa America, they were only able to last until the quarter-finals before being eliminated by Uruguay in a penalty shootout drama.

As Brazil tried to get up, Dorival instead lost part of the pillar players, including Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker who was injured. But Dorival is not worried because there is still Ederson, the Manchester City goalkeeper who is no less qualified. Even Ederson actually deserves to be the main goalkeeper.

Apart from Alisson, Brazil lost Bremer defenders, Eder Militao and Guilherme Arana as well as Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. They also suffered injuries so they missed Brazil in qualifying.

Interestingly Dorival called striker from local club Botafogo Igor Jesus into the Brazil squad. Not only that, Igor Jesus will even start. This means that Endrick, who is Madrid's new star, will sit on the bench.

"I see Igor getting the moment. Endrick still has to get to know and adapt to the new club. He joins one of the biggest clubs with stiff competition," said Dorival.

Igor Jesus is a Brazilian talented star who has not been eyeed by European top clubs. Instead, he had a career in the United Arab Emirates League by strengthening Shabab Al-Ahli. After playing for four seasons in Dubai, the 23-year-old striker returned to Brazil because he was recruited by Botafogo.

He showed his sharpness by scoring seven goals from 19 matches. Igor Jesus led Botafogo to lead the Brazilian League standings and loloe to the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores.

"In my opinion, Igor has his own experience. It is important for us to have players like him for big matches," said Dorival.

Meanwhile, Chile needed a win to improve the rankings. The presence of the new coach Ricardo Gareca has not made any changes.

Even Gareca made a bad start because Chile had been knocked out in the early rounds of the 2024 Copa America. When making his debut in qualifying, Gareca picked up a disappointing result because Chile was beaten by Argentina 3-0.

Chile, who has only won once, is still stuck in ninth place with five points. This makes La Roja have to work hard if they want to break into the top six.