“It felt like I was inside a coffin and everyone was saying, 'Wow, you're still alive, eh?' That's the feeling I had."
That was how Neymar described his mental state following Brazil's elimination from the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Speaking on a podcast in April, the Brazilian star revealed that the disappointment ran so deep that it felt as though he saw what his funeral would be like.
The nightmare of 9 December 2022, when Brazil crashed out on penalties against Croatia, is now in the past. With a new World Cup, a new coach and renewed hope, the five-time world champions have returned to football's biggest stage. Ahead of their opening match of the 2026 World Cup against Morocco, it is worth looking back at Brazil's journey from Qatar to North America over the last four years.
Winless in half of their matches
Since the 2022 World Cup, Brazil have played 38 matches across the Copa América, World Cup qualifiers, international friendlies and World Cup warm-up games.
Of those 38 matches, Brazil won 19. The remaining 19 consisted of 10 defeats and 9 draws. In other words, Brazil failed to win half of the matches they played over the four-year period.
Coaches came and went
Following the disappointment of the 2022 World Cup, Tite stepped down as head coach. Brazil Under-20 coach Ramon Menezes was appointed on an interim basis and remained in charge for nearly six months. He was followed by Fernando Diniz, but his tenure proved short-lived after Brazil suffered three consecutive defeats in World Cup qualifying.
In January 2024, Dorival Júnior took over. Under his leadership, Brazil reached the quarter-finals of the Copa América. However, he was dismissed three days after a 4–1 defeat to Argentina in a World Cup qualifier in March 2025.
Most recently, Carlo Ancelotti was appointed in the final week of May 2025. Brazil will enter the World Cup under their first-ever foreign head coach, the Italian manager.
No silverware to show
Brazil's national team failed to win any major trophy during this four-year period.
At the 2024 Copa América in the United States, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Uruguay on penalties. Their World Cup qualifying campaign was also far from convincing. Among the six South American teams that secured direct qualification for the World Cup, Brazil finished fifth in the standings.
Turbulent qualifying campaign
In the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, Brazil won 8 of their 18 matches. Of the remaining 10 games, they lost 6 and drew 4.
Brazil lost both qualifying matches against Argentina. They also suffered defeats to Colombia, Paraguay, Bolivia and Venezuela. The loss to Colombia was particularly historic, as Brazil had never before been beaten by Colombia in World Cup qualifying.
The team played under three different coaches throughout the qualifying campaign, while Raphinha finished as Brazil's top scorer with five goals.