France and Brazil weigh up World Cup prospects in glamour friendly

FOXBOROUGH – Brazil and France will be among the leading contenders for World Cup 2026 glory, and the two heavyweights continue their preparations for the tournament by facing off in a glamour friendly in the United States on March 26.

With less than three months until the big kick-off, the countries ranked fifth and third respectively in the world rankings are in the US familiarising themselves with what lies in store in June and July as they go head-to-head at the Gillette Stadium near Boston.

Brazil laboured their way through South American World Cup qualifying with six defeats in 18 games as they finished fifth. Now, they are hoping the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as coach will give them a genuine chance of winning a record-extending sixth World Cup, and first since 2002.

After this match, they will head to Orlando, Florida, for a friendly on March 31 against Croatia, the team who ousted them from the 2022 World Cup in the quarter-finals on penalties.

Neymar is 34 and has not played for his country since October 2023, but his absence from the squad has still been one of the main talking points coming into these matches.

“It is a physical issue, not technical. With the ball he is great, but he needs to improve physically,” Ancelotti said about the absence of the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain superstar, now back at his boyhood side Santos.

“Because in my eyes and those of my staff, he is not at 100 per cent. So he needs to keep working to get back to 100 per cent.”

In the meantime, Brazil’s main man is Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr, while others that are likely to have key roles at the World Cup, such as goalkeeper Alisson Becker, centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes and midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, are missing here.

Among those who are likely to feature is Rayan, the uncapped 19-year-old who earned his place after impressing in the English Premier League for Bournemouth since arriving from Vasco da Gama in January.

The main focus for France is Kylian Mbappe, and the national team captain was eager to feature on this trip after overcoming a knee injury to return for Real just last week.

There had been mounting fears in France that the 27-year-old’s fitness could become a real issue, but he said missing the World Cup or the end of the club season was never a concern.

“It is behind me. I was following a protocol and I wanted to start playing again gradually,” he said on March 23, just before the squad headed to the US.

“I hope to be able to play during this international break and to start being decisive again.”

France, who have seen Arsenal defender William Saliba withdraw due to injury and called up Maxence Lacroix of Crystal Palace in his place, are staying in the same Boston hotel where they will be based during the June 11-July 19 World Cup.

The tournament will be coach Didier Deschamps’ swansong after 14 years at the helm, with Zinedine Zidane fully expected to succeed him.

“I know his name,” French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo told daily Le Figaro this week, when asked about his search for the successor to Deschamps.

He refuses to explicitly say Zidane will take over, but it is hard to imagine Diallo means anyone else.

This is the teams’ first meeting in exactly 11 years, since Brazil came from behind to win 3-1 in a friendly at the Stade de France with goals from Oscar, Neymar and Luiz Gustavo.

Their last competitive meeting came at the 2006 World Cup, where France beat Brazil 1-0 in the quarter-finals, thanks to a Thierry Henry goal and a masterful performance by Zidane.

If both win their groups at the upcoming World Cup as expected, then they would not be able to meet each other until the final.

Getting that far is the aim for these sides, and the game on March 26 will be a good gauge of where both stand as the competition approaches. AFP