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In his first match in-charge for Carlo Ancelotti as head coach of the Brazilian football team, the five-time FIFA World Cup winners were held to a 0-0 draw by Ecuador at the Estadio Monumental Banco Pichincha in Guayaquil. In the FIFA World Cup qualifying match for the 2026 edition, Ecuador not only managed to keep Brazil at bay in front of their home fans, but also made the play to break the deadlock, but it didn’t happen for either of the two teams.
The best chance for Brazil to score a goal came with Flamengo midfielder Gerson, while Casemiro, the Manchester United midfielder was kept out by the goalkeeper Gonzalo Valle. As far as Ecuador were concerned, they also could have found the back of the net but Venezia forward John Yeboah’s header went over the crossbar at the end of the first half.
I don't want to make excuses, but the pitch was not in good condition: Carlo Ancelotti
With that, Carlo Ancelotti’s first match as head coach was a stalemate just weeks after leaving club football giants Real Madrid. The result has kept Brazil in fourth place in the qualifying group for the FIFA World Cup 2026 with 22 points to their name in 15 matches, two points behind Ecuador, who are in joint-second place, meanwhile, the leaders Argentina are a whopping 10 points ahead of them in the standings.
Carlo Ancelotti was quoted as saying after the completion of the match, “I don't want to make excuses, but the pitch was not in good condition. It was not easy to play on the pitch.”
In some of the other matches from the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying group of the South American continent, Argentina defeated Chile 1-0 with a goal from Julian Alvarez away at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Pradanos in Santiago. Moreover, Paraguay defeated Uruguay 2-0 to join Ecuador in second place in the standings, finding themselves within touching distance of playing the next year’s world tournament.
