Brazil fans have demanded that manager Carlo Ancelotti is sacked and replaced by Pep Guardiola following the nation’s exit from the World Cup. The five-time World Champions fell to a surprise 2-1 defeat against Norway at the round of 16 stage on Sunday night.
Haaland Double Sinks Brazil
A double from Manchester City striker Erling Haaland in the second half condemned Brazil to defeat, despite Neymar’s late penalty. The game also saw midfielder Bruno Guimarães have a first-half penalty saved. The loss means that Brazil’s wait to add a sixth World Cup trophy goes on, with the nation last lifting the trophy in 2002.
Ancelotti Defiant After Defeat
Speaking after the game, Ancelotti said: “We must continue to work and improve, and find new ideas. I believe that this loss is not the end, but the beginning of a new cycle.” However, Brazil fans on social media are calling for the manager to be sacked. “Bruno is at fault, Endrick is at fault. But the main one responsible for the elimination is the cowardly and arrogant Carlo Ancelotti,” one fan posted. “He clearly instructed the team to let Norway have the ball. Coward. It went wrong, obviously, but he didn't want to fix it. Arrogant. Best coach in the world... who should never coach the national team again.”
A second wrote: “Carlo Ancelotti is an absolute coward. An utter disgrace. He should be fired tonight.” A third added: “I like Carlo Ancelotti—who doesn't—but I am completely unmoved by this result and he deserves the sack. To choose Neymar over Joao Pedro is an injustice punishable by this sort of disgrace. I understand football is emotional but you're not serious if you pick Neymar in 2026.”
Fans Call for Guardiola
And fans have no doubt over who they want to replace Ancelotti. One said: “This selection is begging for Pep Guardiola.” A second wrote: “The only manager who can save Brazil is Pep Guardiola.” “Hey @CBF_Futebol, take advantage of this Pep Guardiola guy slipping up in the market and pay the buyout clause,” a third said.
Guardiola is available after leaving Manchester City this summer. He has been replaced at the Etihad Stadium by former Chelsea and Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca. The Spaniard has been linked to the Brazil job a few times in the past, including as recently as this year.
Alves: Guardiola Wanted Brazil Job in 2014
Back in 2015, former Brazil and Barcelona full-back Dani Alves revealed that Guardiola wanted the job for the 2014 World Cup. “Pep said he wanted to make Brazil a World Cup champion and had an entire strategy to make us a world champion,” Alves told ESPN Brasil in 2015. “They didn’t want it, because they said that they didn’t know if Brazil would accept a foreign coach. Pep is the best coach in the world, the greatest sports manager I’ve ever seen. He revolutionised football, revolutionised a team and we had the chance to have him with us. If you let an opportunity like this go by, then you are not really thinking about the national team.”
Guardiola Open to National Team Management
Guardiola himself has admitted that he may be open to national team management. When asked back in May if he would be open to managing England, he said: “I don’t have any absolute plan about my future. I go to rest and recover the time I missed with my kids, even though they are grown, and do many things I’ve not done that I want to do. I don’t think for one second about anything related to football for the next years. I need to rest, I need to reflect, I need to see what happened in my 17, 18 years, in my time with Barcelona, in Germany [with Bayern Munich] and here. After, we see what happens. I didn’t do in the past stupid things that I want to do.” Asked if this was not a no, Guardiola said: “Yeah — [but] nobody cares.”
