Carlo Ancelotti exits Real Madrid, hoping to add World Cup with Brazil
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Real Madrid's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti (centre) will leave the club at the end of the season to take charge of the Brazil national team.
PHOTO: AFP
MADRID – Carlo Ancelotti will leave Real Madrid for a second time as the most decorated manager in Champions League history after a hugely successful second spell, primed to take his talents to the international game with Brazil.
Brazilian sources said Ancelotti will sign a one-year deal to become the world’s highest-paid national coach ahead of the 2026 World Cup, with the option to extend his contract.
The Italian’s time at the very top of club football appeared to be over before he left Everton to return to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2021.
But Ancelotti proved he had lost none of his old magic, lifting the European Cup for the fourth and fifth times as a coach in 2022 and 2024.
The 65-year-old also won his first La Liga title in 2022, completing the trophy set of Europe’s top five leagues.
When Zinedine Zidane, who led Real to three Champions League titles himself, ended his second spell in charge, Ancelotti was considered a safe pair of hands, having previously overseen the “decima” triumph in 2014.
He surpassed expectations, infamously high among Real fans, by maintaining the club’s status as the strongest in Europe.
Los Blancos secured a La Liga title in his first season back, before defeating Liverpool in Paris to push the Italian clear of Zidane and Bob Paisley with a record fourth Champions League as a coach.
Real had to settle for Copa del Rey and Club World Cup trophies the following year, but they roared back after the signing of Jude Bellingham with another La Liga-Champions League double last season.
However, they have slipped well behind Barcelona in their league title defence and lost the Copa del Rey final to their rivals, while a quarter-final humbling in Europe by Arsenal seemingly secured Ancelotti’s fate.
He all but admitted as much after the Copa del Rey loss, saying his future was “a topic for the next weeks”.
The announcement of Ancelotti’s departure on May 12 was accompanied by the news he would become the first foreigner to lead the Brazil national team since 1965.
The five-time world champions have struggled for form in 2026 World Cup qualifying and sacked Dorival Jr in March.
Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues initially delayed naming a successor after Tite’s 2022 departure in the hope of persuading Ancelotti to take the role, calling it “a no-brainer”.
But the fact that the wait for him to leave Madrid initially proved too long for Rodrigues is testament to Ancelotti’s success in the Spanish capital.
Dorival was named coach in January 2024, but Brazil have stuttered their way towards World Cup 2026 in North America, stumbling to five defeats and three draws from their 14 qualifiers so far.
In April, Brazilian media reports suggested that the CBF could not afford Ancelotti’s severance pay, suggesting he could instead take over the Saudi Arabia national side.
But those fears have been allayed, with Ancelotti to start with the Selecao on May 26 ahead of qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June.
Rodrigues will be hoping Ancelotti can help restore Brazil’s reputation as the leading force in international football.
“It is a statement to the world that we’re determined to reclaim top spot on the podium,” gushed Rodrigues.
The South American giants have reached the semi-finals only once in the last five World Cups, when they suffered a humiliating 7-1 defeat on home soil against Germany in 2014.
Brazil forwards Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo have both flourished under Ancelotti at Real and are key players for the national team.
Centre-back Eder Militao and teenage prodigy Endrick also both play at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ancelotti will arrive in Brazil with a resume that very few others can match.
He coached Reggiana, Parma and Juventus for short spells before arriving at AC Milan in 2001, departing in 2009 as the club’s longest-serving manager and after winning the 2003 and 2007 Champions Leagues.
In 2009, Ancelotti took over at Chelsea, winning the league and FA Cup double and helping the Blues become the first team in the English Premier League era to score more than 100 goals in a season.
Ancelotti won the Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain before taking over at Real that summer.
He earned the support and affection of Real’s heavyweights, including Cristiano Ronaldo, on the way to winning their long-awaited 10th Champions League title.
Real president Florentino Perez sacked him the following year, with Ancelotti heading to Bayern Munich, where he promptly won the Bundesliga in 2017.
Ancelotti later had spells at Napoli and Everton before the surprise return to the elite with Real, which lasted four years and left him in as much demand as ever before.
He is set to be replaced at the Bernabeu by former Real midfielder Xabi Alonso, with sources close to the 43-year-old former Spain international saying he has agreed a two-year deal with the option to extend it by an extra year.
AFP, REUTERS
