The Brazilian FA’s social media post says it all. Hiring Carlo Ancelotti to manage the Brazil national team is “more than a strategic move” — it’s also a “statement to the world.”

“He is the greatest coach in history and, now, he is at the helm of the greatest national team on the planet. Together we will write new glorious chapters in Brazilian football,” says Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the Confederacao Brasileira de Futebol (CBF).

Way to dial the hype-and-expectation-meter to a Spinal Tap-sized 11. Then again, some hyperbole was probably necessary since this move — Ancelotti departing Real Madrid and going on to coach Brazil at the 2026 World Cup — had been telegraphed for a long, long time. (In fact, its origin story dates back more than three years.)

The fact that the CBF itself pre-empted Real Madrid’s announcement that he’d be leaving — or, indeed, Ancelotti’s turn to say gracias after a total of six seasons and 15 trophies — is also significant, given that he has another year on his contract with the Spanish club and, just as important, their season isn’t over. Sunday’s 4-3 defeat in the Clasico to Barcelona has all but handed the title to their archrivals, but there are three games left and arithmetic has yet to condemn them.

It was common knowledge both that Ancelotti was likely to leave at the end of a largely trophy-less campaign — their one piece of 2024-25 silverware, the European Super Cup, came in August — and that the prospect of ending his coaching career by taking charge of the most iconic and successful World Cup nation appealed to him. But there are norms and customs to how these things happen and the CBF, for whatever reason, went rogue.

Usually, it’s the current club that makes the announcement or it’s the coach (or player) himself, in concert with his current employers. Controlling the message matters, and these issues are often discussed in detail in negotiations. Not here. For whatever reason the biggest and most successful national team in the world appears to have big-footed the biggest and most successful club team in the world. (Not to mention, in the CBF’s own words, “the greatest coach in history” — and their newest employee — who may have wanted to make his farewells on his own terms.)

That’s done now, and we’ll see what the fallout, if any, will be. But it’s worth remembering that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, now in his third decade as club supremo, has a very long memory and that he pays the salaries of several Brazil stars such as Rodrygo, Éder Militão, Endrick and FIFA Best winner Vinícius Júnior.

As for Ancelotti, this isn’t a guy to hold grudges. Heck, he wasn’t vindictive the last time Real Madrid fired him, in 2015, just 10 months removed from leading them to their 10th Champions League crown and their first in more than a decade. He was hugely disappointed and hurt, but he sat tight, took a few other gigs and, six years later, returned after the shock resignation of his one-time assistant and protege, Zinedine Zidane. In four seasons he won another 11 trophies, including two more Champions League titles, a Spanish Cup and two Liga crowns and celebrated like this.

This is a guy who loves the game and enjoys life. That’s much easier to do when you’re not consumed by grudges and give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

Ancelotti’s career arc in the game — from being a rigid, tactical obsessive under legendary Milan boss Arrigo Sacchi (with whom he won two European Cups as a player) to a pragmatic players’ coach later in life — is at the heart of his success. He can beat you with “Xs and Os,” but he knows too well that at the very highest level, when you have the very best players it’s best to let them do their thing and just keep them happy and motivated. From Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé, Ancelotti is the Galactico-whisperer.

Add to that the fact that he’s won more Champions League titles (five) than anyone and is the only person to have won each of Europe’s Big Five leagues as a coach, and you can understand what made Ednaldo Rodrigues and the CBF so obsessed with him. Countless Selecao stars of the past (Thiago Silva, Cafu, Marcelo, Kaka) and present (Vinícius, Eder Militao) were ready to vouch for him. His track record speaks for itself as does his ability to defuse tension and deal with media and fan pressure. Heck, he did it for six years at the biggest, most scrutinized club team in the world, he can now do it at the biggest, most scrutinized national team in the world.

The difference, perhaps, is that Real Madrid — if only by virtue of the fact that they can spend money to acquire talent — tend to have short down-cycles in their success, while Brazil are in serious need of a pick-me-up. They still produce more footballers by volume than any other nation, but their international record isn’t what it was — especially in the World Cup, which they last won in 2002. Since then, they’ve only progressed beyond the quarterfinals once and nobody wants to remember that occasion, because it resulted in the most humiliating day in Brazilian football history as they lost the 2014 semifinal 7-1 on home soil to Germany.

It’s the sort of run that breeds failure, toxicity and self-doubt — the two Copa America titles they won in 2007 and 2019 aren’t enough to break it — hence the bold step to break with 100 years of history and hand the country’s vast talent pool and institutional memory to a non-Brazilian coach. There’s a sizable chunk of Brazil’s 211.1 million-strong population that doesn’t remember them lifting a World Cup trophy. That has to change.

As for Ancelotti, he has long said Real Madrid would be his last job in club football. After all, you can’t really top it, and he’s never hidden the fact that, at 65, for as much as he loves the game and the adrenaline it brings, he’s equally happy back home in the Italian countryside surrounded by cured meats or in his adopted hometown of Vancouver, with the wild salmon and the Pacific Ocean.

However, he’s also said he wouldn’t mind coaching a national team, and while his native Italy immediately sprang to many minds, well, the job is taken and in any case: an Italian guy coaching Italy to a World Cup title? Been there, done that.

A foreigner crossing the ocean to take on the complicated ecosystem of Brazilian football and guiding the green-and-gold to their record sixth World Cup in 2026? Now that hasn’t been done. If there’s one coach who could change that, it’s Ancelotti.

Espn.co.uk

New Zealand will host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 Oceania Qualifiers semi-finals and final in April next year.

The Football Ferns will get home advantage if they make it beyond the group stages, as they try to qualify for a sixth World Cup in a row. Much like the All Whites did in March when they defeated New Caledonia in Auckland to secure a place at the men’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the US next year.

The women’s matches will take place between 7 to 18 April next year, with host cities still to be announced. The winner of the final will automatically qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in Brazil.

Prior to the finals, group games will be played in the February and March international window, in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, with the top two sides in each pool qualifying for the semi-finals.

New Zealand Football chief executive officer Andrew Pragnell said getting hosting rights was “significant”.

“Bringing our senior national teams home on a regular basis is a big priority for us as an organisation, so it is great to be able to confirm these very significant games will be played in Aotearoa.

“The game is in a great place right now at all levels, from community football, where numbers are exploding, to the professional level, with the introduction of Auckland FC and their rivalry with Wellington Phoenix, and of course at international level with the All Whites returning to the FIFA World Cup next year and, all going well, the Ferns doing the same in 2027.”

The 2027 World Cup will have 32 teams, the same as the 2023 edition in Australia and New Zealand, which was the first to have 32 teams, up from 24 in the 2019 tournament hosted by France.

From the 2031 edition onwards it will be a 48-team World Cup with a 12-group format, increasing the total number of matches from 64 to 104 – the same as the expanded men’s World Cup in 2026 – and extending the tournament by one week.

Rnz.co.nz

It is a date with another set of Lion Cubs on Monday afternoon and Head Coach Aliyu Zubairu has assured that Nigeria’s U20 boys are focused and determined to achieve a win that will guarantee them a place at this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup finals.

Unbeaten in their group B campaign, the Flying Eagles however finished second behind another set of Lion Cubs from Morocco and had to proceed to Ismailia for their game against title-holders Senegal. Senegal also finished second in their group C, which also included Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Central African Republic.

The 19-team finals have been whittled down to eight contenders, with Tanzania and Zambia eliminated in group A, Tunisia (despite their three points) and Kenya thrown out from group B and Central African Republic stopped in group C.

On Saturday, General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Mohammed Sanusi called on the seven-time champions to play differently when they confront the Cup holders on Monday afternoon.

“I have no doubt that you have the ability to rise to the occasion. Monday is the occasion, because you are not only playing against the defending champions, you also must win to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. The first objective for any team in any competition that is a qualifier for a bigger tournament is to qualify, followed by the second objective of winning the trophy.

“The NFF and the Nigeria football fraternity are fully behind you and giving you the maximum support, and you have to repay their encouragement and prayers with a World Cup ticket on Monday.”

Two years ago, the Lion Cubs from Senegal pipped the Flying Eagles 1-0 in the two teams’ first match of the CAF U20 Championship at the Cairo International Stadium, on the way to the Cubs’ first triumph in the competition, after they defeated Gambia 2-0 in the final. Nigeria finished third in the same competition.

However, Nigeria know they cannot afford to pull any punches on Monday as only the semi-finalists will qualify to fly Africa’s flag at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile later in the year. The Flying Eagles came within a nodding distance of the semi-finals at the last FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina, two years ago.

Nigeria converted Senegal to a happy hunting-ground ten years ago, beating the host nation 3-1 in the opening match of the CAF U20 Championship and then securing a 1-0 win over the Lion Cubs in the final to pick their seventh continental title. In December of the same year, Nigeria’s U23 team won the Africa U23 Cup of Nations in Senegal to qualify to represent Africa at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Senegal will also flaunt their 2-1 defeat of Nigeria in the Round of 16 of the FIFA U20 World Cup finals in Poland six years ago.

On Monday, at the Suez Canal Stadium, Nigeria must show strength, skills and invention against a Senegalese side that has the ability to turn the table against the opposition when least expected.

“We know what to expect. It is a big match for both teams because the winner will be going to the World Cup. It is like a final match, and if you throw in the matter of the rivalry between our two countries, it means we must be disciplined and determined for the entire duration of the game. We will do just that,” Coach Zubairu said as the team had its first official training in Ismailia on Saturday.

While the rearguard has shown some solidity in the campaign – except for the moment of loss of concentration that allowed Kenya’s second goal on Wednesday – much will be expected of Nigerian striker Kparobo Arierhi, who has scored only one goal here thus far.

Arierhi was venerated as the man to determine the length of Nigeria’s stay in Egypt, after his three goals at the WAFU B U20 Championship in Lome and a pre-tournament strike against the Young Pharaohs of Egypt. But the equalizer that brought parity at the first instance against Kenya has been the only time he attained the scoresheet in three games.

Captain Bameyi, who scored his first competitive goal for the team from the spot against the Rising Stars, will be expected to keep things tight at the back with Odinaka Okoro, Chigozie Ihejiofor and Adamu Maigari also providing cover for goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt.

Zubairu must decide whether to start Divine Oliseh in midfield, alongside Clinton Jephta and Israel Ayuma, or retain Simon Cletus, while Arierhi, Auwal Ibrahim (whose lone goal earned the crucial three points against Tunisia), Ezekiel Kpangu, Precious Benjamin and Mendos Rickson are also available for spaces at the fore.