Brazil look to youth as they start 2027 World Cup buildup with Lionesses fixture | OneFootball

The road to the 2027 World Cup is long and winding for all teams hoping to qualify – apart from the hosts, Brazil. Having won their ninth Copa América Femenina in the summer, their next major tournament will be the World Cup in 20 months.

That may seem like a long time but the head coach, Arthur Elias, is aware that every minute of preparation counts, starting with their friendlies against England in Manchester on Saturday and Italy in Parma on Tuesday.

By facing European opposition, Elias hopes his players will be able to test themselves against one of the best teams in the world. “These games are really important for us to see how we behave collectively when facing different teams with different styles,” he said at the squad announcement. “We are at a stage where we are consolidating our team identity.

“We’re playing against two great European teams. England have won the past two Euros and Italy reached the semis last time around and played really well. We have taken that into account when we selected this squad. We want to give opportunities to younger payers. Our average age is now 24 years old, which we think is ideal when looking ahead to 2027.”

Elias does not have all his key players available. He was expecting to be without Real Madrid’s Antônia and Manchester City’s Kerolin because of injuries, but he has also lost Atlético Madrid’s Gio Garbelini and her replacement, Debinha of KC Current. São Paulo’s 22-year-old forward Isabelle Caroline has been called up.

Elias received international recognition in 2024 when he took Brazil to a silver medal at the Paris Olympics and was one of three finalists for The Best Fifa Women’s coach, finishing behind England’s Sarina Wiegman and Barcelona’s Jonatan Giráldez.

Since their achievement at the Olympics, Brazilian players have had more visibility abroad with record transfers to the NWSL as well as European leagues. The 24-year-old Isabela Chagas may make her senior national team debut against England after completing a €300,000 move from Cruzeiro to Paris Saint-Germain, a record sale for the Brazilian team.

The trajectory is clearly upwards but the game against the Lionesses at the Etihad Stadium will be a challenge. “England are a team we studied quite well, and will test us at the highest level,” Elias says. “They will test our attack, since they have a good, compact defence, and we will need to worry about the quality of their attacking players. Having said that, they will have to deal with our quality too.”

The last time the two teams faced each other was in 2023 for the inaugural Women’s Finalissima – between the Copa América and Euro champions – with England winning on penalties after a pulsating 1-1 draw. Back then, Brazil were coached by Pia Sundhage, who liked to play with a back five.

Expect a more proactive attacking approach under Elias. His teams vary in style, but they consistently look to get on the front foot. It can leave them exposed, though, as happened in the Copa América final against Colombia, where they scored four, but conceded as many and needed penalties to secure the win.

“England and Italy have very different styles,” he says “and facing them in such a short period of time is a challenge. We will need, in one training session, to put a different system in place, with different players’ characteristics, so we can win both games.”

With 20 months to go before a home World Cup, his plan is to test his team as much as possible. He wants to consolidate a squad, but also create options for the future of the national side. “We have made 10 changes to the team that just won the Copa América. I believe that is a good place to be for our preparation for 2027.”

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Header image: [Photograph: Vilmar Bannach/Alamy]