According to Globo channel, CBF President Ednaldo Rodrigues, after being re-elected for a new term until 2030 after former player Ronaldo Nazario withdrew, was really shocked by his team’s defeat to rival Argentina in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America on March 26. At the same time, public opinion in Brazil heavily criticized the poor performance of Selecao and coach Dorival Junior.

The CBF has therefore taken urgent action, preparing to fire coach Dorival Junior and immediately look for an alternative. They are resuming negotiations with Real Madrid coach Ancelotti.

It is expected that if the CBF appoints a new coach, they will have to wait until June, because the current coaches are leading clubs at important times of the season, Globo, a famous television channel in Brazil, said.

Previously, CBF had intended to appoint coach Ancelotti, but the veteran Italian coach unexpectedly chose to stay at Real Madrid until now. Therefore, they had to choose the solution of bringing coach Dorival Junior to lead the Brazilian team long-term until the 2026 World Cup. However, this strategist could not help Selecao find themselves again.

In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America, the Brazilian team had a serious crisis when they lost 3 consecutive matches at the end of 2023. They only returned from 2024, but still lost to Paraguay (0-1), drew with Venezuela and Uruguay with the same score of 1-1, won against Colombia with the score of 2-1, but the recent loss to Argentina with the score of 1-4 ended everything.

On the rankings, the Brazilian team is ranked 4th with 21 points after 14 matches. They are still sure to participate in the 2026 World Cup finals (South America has 6 official spots and 1 Intercontinental play-off spot).

However, with a weak performance against Argentina, Brazilian fans have no faith in their team’s ability to win the World Cup.

The change with coach Dorival Junior is certain to happen. Besides coach Ancelotti as the number 1 candidate to replace him, there is also coach Filipe Luis who is leading the Flamengo club to extremely good performance. The CBF is also considering the possibility of inviting back veteran coach Tite, in addition to coaches Abel Ferreira (Palmeiras club) and Renato Gaucho (Gremio), according to Globo.

Messi did not play in Argentina’s 4-1 win over Brazil. The 37-year-old watched the match on television and sent a message of encouragement to his juniors who had a great match, after also securing a ticket to the 2026 World Cup to officially defend their championship.

“Inside, outside, and wherever possible with this national team. Always talking only through football. Congratulations on the great game you played last night (against Brazil) and also the victory against Uruguay,” Messi wrote on Instagram.

The phrase “always talk only through football” is considered Messi’s way of teaching his junior player Raphinha (Brazil), who is playing for Barcelona, when he made shocking statements before the match against Argentina.

Raphinha was ridiculed by the Argentine players for talking but not doing anything on the pitch. Now he was also lectured by Messi, which added to the pain. However, Argentina coach Scaloni forgave Raphinha. He also met and explained, as well as gave Raphinha a friendly hug to end the unnecessary argument.