Paquetá misses penalty, Brazil held by Tunisia as Estêvão finds the net | OneFootball

Brazil drew their friendly match against Tunisia 1-1 this Tuesday at Decathlon Stadium in Lille, France. Mastouri opened the scoring for the Africans. Estêvão, from the penalty spot, found the net for the Seleção.

The Brazilian team had the chance to secure a comeback victory with a penalty taken by Lucas Paquetá, but the midfielder shot over the crossbar.

This was the last commitment for the Brazilian National Team in this FIFA window. Now, coach Carlo Ancelotti will have just one more opportunity to assess players, in the friendlies scheduled for March, likely against France and Croatia, before finalizing the squad list for the World Cup.

Brazil will return to the field during the FIFA window in March 2026, between the 23rd and 31st, when coach Carlo Ancelotti will make the final call-up before the World Cup. The tendency is for the Seleção to face France and Croatia.

Match Summary

BRAZIL VS TUNISIA  Competition: international friendly  Venue: Decathlon Stadium, Lille (France)  Date: November 18, 2025 (Tuesday)  Time: 4:30 p.m. (Brasília time)

 Yellow cards: Abdi (Tunisia); Wesley (Brazil)  Red cards: none

Refereeing

Referee: Jérome Brisard (France) Assistants: Alexis Auger (France) and Erwan Finjean (France) VAR: Alexandre Castro (France)

Goals

Tunisia Mastouri, 23' 1st half

Brazil Estêvão, 44' 1st half

🟢🟡🔵BRAZIL

Bento; Wesley (Danilo), Militão (Fabrício Bruno), Marquinhos, and Caio Henrique; Casemiro (Fabinho) and Bruno Guimarães (Lucas Paquetá); Estêvão, Matheus Cunha (Vitor Roque), Vinícius Júnior, and Rodrygo (Luiz Henrique). Coach: Carlo Ancelotti.

🔴⚪TUNISIA

Dahmen; Talbi, Meriah, Bronn, and Abdi (Ben Ouanes); Valery, Sassi, Skhiri, Hannibal (Chaouat), and Saad (Achouri); Mastouri (Gharbi).

Coach: Sami Trabelsi

The Match

Brazil had the best chances in the first half, but it was Tunisia who opened the scoring. In the 23rd minute, Abdi delivered a perfect cross for Mastouri, who received the ball unmarked in the box, controlled it, and finished past the goalkeeper.

The Brazilian National Team was not shaken and intensified their attacks. In the 37th minute, Rodrygo took a free kick into the corner, forcing a great save from the Tunisian goalkeeper, who pushed it out for a corner.

Later, however, the Seleção was more fortunate. Bronn deflected the ball with his arm during a Brazilian corner, and after VAR review, the referee awarded a penalty.

Estêvão stepped up and made no mistake, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and hitting the back of the net to level the score for Brazil. It was the youngster's fifth goal in 11 matches for the Seleção.

Second Half Changes

Coach Carlo Ancelotti decided to make some changes to the team for the second half. Vitor Roque, from Palmeiras, and Danilo, from Flamengo, came on at halftime in place of Matheus Cunha and Wesley, respectively. Later, Lucas Paquetá, Fabrício Bruno, and Fabinho also entered the field, but Brazil continued to struggle to break through the Tunisian defense.

Paquetá misses the winning penalty

In the 75th minute, however, Brazil had another penalty in their favor. Sassi was dispossessed inside the area by Vitor Roque and ended up bringing down the striker in an attempt to stop him from advancing with the ball. The referee did not hesitate and pointed to the spot.

This time, Lucas Paquetá stepped up to take it, but could not replicate Estêvão's success from the spot, sending his shot over the crossbar and frustrating the Brazilian fans in Lille, who had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.