Brazil face South Korea this Saturday in their FIFA Series opener | OneFootball

Vitória Calhau and Mariza during training with the Brazil Women’s National Team at Cuiabá’s training center, ahead of their FIFA Series debutCredits: Lívia Villas Boas/Staff Images Woman/CBF

The Brazil Women’s National Team faces South Korea in its opening match of the FIFA Series on Saturday night (11), at Arena Pantanal in Cuiabá, at 9:30 p.m. local time. The clash between the two teams, who have not met in nearly 11 years, will be broadcast live on TV Globo, SporTV, GE TV, and Globoplay.

The match will also be the first between countries already qualified for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. As host of the tournament, Brazil secured its place automatically, while South Korea earned a spot in its fifth Women’s World Cup through the qualifiers (Asian Cup) — Japan, China, North Korea, the Philippines, and Australia have also already qualified.

The Women’s National Team listens closely to instructions from fitness coach Marcelo Rossetti at Cuiabá’s training centerCredits: Lívia Villas Boas/Staff Images Woman/CBF

The matchup brings together the eighth-ranked team in the FIFA Women’s World Ranking (Brazil) and the 19th-ranked side (South Korea). This year, Brazil has played three friendlies: a 5-2 win over Costa Rica, followed by defeats to Venezuela (2-1) and Mexico (1-0). The Asians, meanwhile, have taken the field five times, all in the qualifiers: wins over Iran (3-0), the Philippines (3-0), and Uzbekistan (6-0), a 3-3 draw with Australia, and a 4-1 loss to Japan.

With four days of training ahead of the first match, head coach Arthur Elias is preparing the players to face three different footballing schools — in addition to South Korea, Canada and Zambia are also competing in the tournament. In a press conference, he highlighted that this format could mirror the matchups in the group stage of next year’s World Cup and detailed the characteristics of Saturday’s opponent.

“It’s very interesting to play against teams from different continents and different footballing schools, because that is one of the FIFA Series criteria, and the first phase of the World Cup can be very similar. We’ll face difficulties in every match. South Korea are a very organized and compact team, with very synchronized passing, but I believe we have prepared very well for this first game,” he explained.

Formiga and Andressa Alves celebrate Brazil’s goal in the last match against South Korea, on June 9, 2015, in the World Cup opener; Brazil won 2-0Credits: Stuart Franklin - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

A veteran of the Women’s National Team, Angelina also emphasized how difficult South Korea will make things for Brazil.

“The match against South Korea will be very difficult because they are a team that is very well structured defensively. From the matches we analyzed, they were sitting in a low block, and it is very hard to break down a compact defense. We are working on strategies to get past their defense,” she said.

Officiating

The officiating crew for Brazil vs. South Korea will consist of the following officials: Laura Fortunato (referee), Mariana de Almeida and Gisela Fabiana Trucco (assistant referees), Gabriela Coronel (fourth official), Stefane Scobar (VAR), and Elibith Higuera (AVAR).

Arthur Elias closely watches the Women’s National Team training session at Cuiabá’s training center, on the eve of their FIFA Series debutCredits: Lívia Villas Boas/Staff Images Woman/CBF

GET YOUR TICKET!

Tickets for the FIFA Series are sold exclusively through the Face Pass app. A single ticket allows fans to watch both matches of the day.

In the North and South sections, tickets cost R$30 (half-price) and R$60 (full price). In the East section, half-price tickets are R$50 and full-price tickets are R$100. In the West section, half-price tickets cost R$70 and full-price tickets cost R$140.

About the FIFA Series

The FIFA Series is a competition organized by FIFA in which world football’s governing body supports its member associations in staging international friendlies involving four national teams from different confederations in a single host country.

The tournament’s main goals are to create more opportunities for national teams to play one another, promoting competitive balance, technical development, and intercontinental exchange.

The Women’s National Team is preparing for the FIFA Series at Cuiabá’s Manoel Dresch Training CenterCredits: Lívia Villas Boas/Staff Images Woman/CBF

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