Brazil draws 0-0 with Ecuador in World Cup qualifying in Ancelotti's debut as coach

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil held Ecuador to a 0-0 draw Thursday in a South American World Cup qualifying game that marked Carlo Ancelotti's debut as national team coach.

The match in Guayaquil offered few scoring opportunities for either team, and featured once again a Brazilian lineup that struggled to be creative.

Ecuador edged closer to one of the direct World Cup spots by maintaining second place in the round robin competition with 24 points. Brazil is in fourth place with 22 points. The top six teams in South America qualify automatically for the World Cup next year in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

World Cup champion Argentina, which has already secured its place at the 2026 global tournament, beat 10th-place Chile 1-0. Lionel Messi went on as a second-half substitute in his first run for the national team in seven months. Argentina has 34 points, 10 clear of Ecuador.

Paraguay moved into third spot on 24 points after a 2-0 home win over Uruguay, which dropped to fifth. Matías Galarza scored the opener in the 13th minute and Julio Enciso added a second from the spot in the 81st.

AnceIottti made a lot of lineup changes compared with his predecessor, Dorival Júnior, who was fired after the team's 4-0 defeat at Argentina. The result was a team that successfully blocked the hosts almost all of the match but also failed to be creative and aggressive in offense, a flaw also under Ancelotti's predecessors.

The 65-year-old Italian coach gave Vinicius Júnior Brazil's No. 10, brought veteran midfielder Casemiro and striker Richarlison back into the starting lineup, gave a debut to defender Alex and played teenager Estêvão on the left wing as a replacement to suspended Raphinha.

Brazil seemed comfortable defending against Ecuador, which is unbeaten in its last 14 home games. The best chance for Ancelotti's team came in the 22nd minute, when Vinicius shot from close range and was stopped by goalkeeper Gonzalo Valle.

Ancelotti predicted Brazil won't be as defense-minded next week when it hosts Paraguay in Sao Paulo.

“We will have more opportunities to control the match, have more mobility and intensity,” Ancelotti told a post-match news conference. “This game was more complicated for the three (strikers). We needed more of an offensive game. But Ecuador defended well.”

“It was a very good match in the defensive stage — I saw the team doing well with the ball, with a more fluid game,” Ancelotti added. “This was a good draw and we leave here satisfied, with confidence for the next match.”

The 33-year-old Casemiro, who played his first match for Brazil in more than a year, was happy to return and play under a coach he enjoyed a lot of success with at Real Madrid.

“Little by little we will grow," Casemiro said. “We had a strong, solid defensive system tonight.”

Vinicius said Ancelotti “is yet to show his game plan” for Brazil.

“We will manage. The World Cup is right there and we need to be together to do well at the end of South American qualifying and World Cup preparations,” the striker said.

Brazil can qualify for the World Cup with a win over Paraguay next week, as long as its cushion over the seventh-place team is larger than six points.

Messi barely had to play for an Argentina lineup missing several regular starters in Santiago.

Julián Álvarez scored the winning goal in the 16th minute. Messi didn't have clear opportunities to score in his brief appearance.

“It was a beautiful goal. We had a great first half, and we waned a little in the second," Álvarez said. “But we did well.”

Chile, in the last place and on the verge of missing the World Cup contention for the third consecutive time. Next week, Chile will travel to Bolivia and Argentina will host Colombia.

Colombia takes on Peru and Venezuela challenges Bolivia on Friday. While the Colombians could overtake Brazil in the standings with a win, the Venezuelans and Bolivians will face off in a match that could prove decisive for seventh spot.

The seventh place team in South American qualifying will advance to an intercontinental playoff for a spot in the World Cup.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, and Chile's Francisco Sierralta battle for the ball during a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Santiago, Chile, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo)

Uruguay's Ronald Araujo, right, and Paraguay's Diego Gomez battle for the ball during a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Asuncion, Paraguay, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Paraguay's Julio Enciso celebrates scoring his side's second goal against Uruguay during a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Asuncion, Paraguay, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Brazil's Vinicius Junior eyes the ball during a World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match against Ecuador at Banco Pichincha stadium in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Ecuador's Kevin Rodriguez, left, and Brazil's Casemiro battle for the ball during a World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match at Banco Pichincha stadium in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Patricio Teran)

Brazil's coach Carlo Ancelotti directs his players during a World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match against Ecuador at Banco Pichincha stadium in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado discussed her country's future with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, even though he has dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela and signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s No. 2. Along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and was set to deliver her first state of the union speech Thursday.

In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She also had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the lunchtime meeting with Machado and called her “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela. But Leavitt also said Trump's opinion of Machado had not changed, calling it "a realistic assessment."

Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.

Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.

Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.

“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”

Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she'd offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only “gracias."

After her White House stop, Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate. Her Washington visit began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela.

It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.

Rodríguez has adopted a less strident position toward Trump then she did immediately after Maduro's ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela — at least for now.

Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump, though her offer to share the honor with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)