The apathy in the stands of Maracanã, already in the middle of the second half, reflected the warm acting of Brazil on Thursday (4) against Chile, the qualifying lantern and with no chance of competing in the 2026 World Cup.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team won 1-0, Stephen’s goal in the first half, but showed little intensity to transform the fragility of the rival into a convincing score.
The situation only changed 25 minutes into the final stage, when the Italian coach replaced Gabriel Martinelli with Lucas Paquetá. The next minute, shirt 11 scored the second goal. Absolution of alleged involvement with bets in England, the West Ham player was first summoned in 2025 and intensely celebrated his goal in this return to the national team.
Five minutes after the second Brazilian goal, Bruno Guimarães scored the third, handing the fan the elastic victory that was expected in the face of the fragility of the opponent.
In the first half, Brazil had already maintained more than 60% of the ball and pressed in the opposing field, but created few clear chances of swinging the net. Casemiro even opened the scoring after five minutes, but the goal was annulled by impediment.
The 1-0 left only 37, in a move built on the left. João Pedro fired Douglas Santos, who found a raphinha in good condition. The cross -kick of shirt 10 was defended by Vigouroux, but Stephen took advantage of the leftover and scored his first goal for the national team.
Before the break, Martinelli and Stephen himself still had good opportunities to extend the advantage, but stopped in the Chilean defense. Chile, in turn, almost got one less: Maripán was sent off after 44 minutes for a foul in Wesley, but after revision in VAR, the punishment was reversed for yellow card. It was the only time of protagonism of the visiting team in the match.
With the comfortable victory, Brazil reached 28 points and occupies the second position of the qualifiers. The 10 -point Chilean national team remained in the competition’s flashlight.
The Brazilian team returns to the field on Tuesday (9), at 20:30, when visiting Bolivia, in El Alto, to close his campaign in the qualifiers.
The match against the Chileans also marked a possible farewell from Brazil at home before the 2026 World Cup, as the team should no longer play in the country until the tournament. In the selections calendar, three more dates are planned for friendly before the World Cup, but the cast led by Carlo Ancelotti is expected to compete in these clashes abroad, Asia and Europe.
Technical file
Brazil 3 x 0 Chile
World Cup qualifiers – 17th round
Date: 04/09/2025 (Thursday)
Location: Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
Referee: Alexis Herrera (Ven)
Goals: Stephen (38/1st T), Paquetá (26/2ºT) and Bruno Guimarães (30/2ºT)
Yellows: Casemiro; Maripán
Brazil: Alisson; Wesley, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães and Douglas Santos; Casemiro (Andrey Santos) and Bruno Guimarães; Martinelli (Paquetá), Raphinha (Richarlison), Stephen (Luiz Henrique) and João Pedro (Kaio Jorge).
Technician: Carlo Ancelotti
Chile: Vigouroux; Iván Román, Paulo Díaz E Maripán; Hormazábal, vicente pizarro, loyola (echeverría) e suazo; Cepeda (Assassadi), Aravena (Maxi Gutiérrez) E Brereton Díaz (Tapia).
Technician: Nicolás Córdova
Messi has exciting farewell in Argentina
Lionel Messi, 38, scored two goals on Thursday in his last official match for the qualifiers played in Argentina. Ovated by about 80,000 fans at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, he lived an exciting night, crowned by the 3-0 win over Venezuela.
Shirt 10 scored at the 39th of the first half and 35 of the second. Lautaro Martínez, at 30 of the final stage, also left his mark. Already classified in advance for the 2026 World Cup, Argentina entered the field without pressures, while Venezuela will still have a last chance to seek recap in the final round of the qualifiers.
In the last round, on Tuesday (9), Argentina will face Ecuador away from home, and Venezuela will receive Colombia in Maturín.
