After 14 months of subpar results and performances by the national team, they fired Brazil’s coach, Dorival Júnior, on Friday.
Three days after Brazil’s devastating 4-1 loss to Argentina in a World Cup qualifier, Júnior was fired by Brazilian Football Confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues.
“The confederation announces that Dorival Júnior’s cycle is over,” Rodrigues told media in Rio de Janeiro. “From now on, we will work searching for a substitute. People have said a lot about the Confederation contacting coaches A, B, or C, but I want to clarify that neither this president nor anyone he authorized ever said that.
Brazil is currently ranked fifth in South American World Cup qualifying for 2026. The top six automatically qualify.
With 62-year-old Júnior as coach, Brazil’s record was seven wins, seven draws, and two losses. Despite this, it’s only won one game out of its last four. The team had 25 goals for and 17 goals against.
Uruguay knocked Brazil out of the Copa America quarterfinals last year via a penalty shootout.
Following his re-election on Monday, Rodrigues will lead the Confederation until 2030. His 2023 bet was that Carlo Ancelotti would become Real Madrid’s coach in 2024.
Brazil appointed Ramon Menezes as interim coach of the under-20 team while awaiting Ancelotti, later hiring Fernando Diniz. Ancelotti extended his contract in Spain, while Diniz was let go in January 2024, achieving only two wins, one draw, and three losses.
Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win was its most recent victory before they experienced a change of three coaches between World Cups. The tournament in Japan and South Korea was a year away when Luiz Felipe Scolari assumed his role.
Local media reported Rodrigues will try again to convince Ancelotti to join, while Al-Hilal’s Jorge Jesus is also an option. A deal could make the Italian or Portuguese coach Brazil’s inaugural foreign coach.
Brazil will play Ecuador (second in the standings) away and Paraguay (sixth in the standings) at home during the South American World Cup Qualifiers in June.
Ancelotti’s Real Madrid and Jesus’s Al-Hilal will clash in a Club World Cup match in the United States that month.