Brazil turns to Carlo Ancelotti to end long wait for World Cup glory

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's biggest hope to end a 24-year World Cup title drought is not a clinical striker, a creative midfielder or a dribbling winger like in previous editions of the tournament. This time Brazilians are pinning their hopes on a 66-year-old Italian, who will be sitting on the bench.

Carlo Ancelotti, one of the most successful coaches of his generation, left Real Madrid to take over Brazil's national team last year, a rare example of a foreign coach in charge of the Seleção. Even though his results have been mixed — five wins, three losses and two draws — the country is optimistic he can elevate a squad which is seen as less star-studded than Brazil's iconic teams of the past, despite high-profile players like Neymar and Vinicius Júnior.

While Brazil has won the World cup five times — more than any other team — it hasn't lifted the trophy since 2002, an eternity for a soccer-obsessed nation that produced some of the most brilliant players in history, such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Pelé.

Since 2002 it has only gotten beyond the quarterfinals once — as World Cup host in 2014 — and even that tournament ended in disappointment after an embarrassing 7-1 semifinal loss to eventual champion Germany.

Brazil’s self-confidence hasn’t been helped by the success of archrival Argentina, the defending World Cup champions and back-to-back Copa America winners.

“It is allowed to believe,” Ancelotti says in a World Cup-themed advertising campaign, acknowledging the self-doubt that has crawled into Brazil's national soccer psyche.

Brazil begins its World Cup campaign at MetLife stadium in New Jersey on June 13 against Morocco, semifinalist in the 2022 World Cup. Other Group C opponents are Haiti and Scotland.

Surviving the group stage is taken for granted in Brazil — anything else would be disaster in a World Cup expanded from 32 to 48 teams. How deep Brazil can go against stronger opponents in the knockout phase is less obvious.

“I am aware and reliant that this team can compete against the best in the world. Can we win the World Cup and reach the final? Yes, we can reach the final. But I don’t know if that is enough, it is best for us to get there and win the final,” Ancelotti said on May 18.

One of the biggest questions facing Ancelotti is what to do with 34-year-old Neymar, who was Brazil's brightest star until he moved to the big-spending Saudi league in 2023. He hardly played there due to a string of knee injuries, and last year returned to boyhood club Santos in Brazil, where he dealt with even more injuries.

Ancelotti included Neymar in his World Cup squad despite concerns about his fitness, calling him an “important player” for the team. Barcelona winger Raphinha also sees Neymar as key to the squad, recently describing him as “the man of our sixth World Cup title.”

If that happens it will be with a more structured approach than the free-flowing style of play that once made Brazil stand out in global soccer.

With a reputation as a master tactician, Ancelotti has made Brazil a team that is happy to sit back and wait for moments to attack rather than dominate ball possession. He often opts for a compact 4-4-2 formation that can quickly turn into an attacking 4-2-4.

Brazilians are generally satisfied with Ancelotti, even though his record so far is uneven. After he took over, Brazil won two World Cup qualifiers, drew one and lost one, finishing fifth in South American qualifying after Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia and Uruguay.

In friendlies more recently, Brazil beat Croatia — which eliminated Brazil from the 2022 World Cup in a quarterfinal shootout — but lost to 2022 runner-up France.

Former Brazil left-back Filipe Luís, who has recently started a coaching career, in April called Ancelotti “the best thing that happened" to the national team.

“It is not a sure thing we will win anything," he said. “But we needed someone big, with enough support to make decisions. A man people respect, who knows Brazil has gone through many years in doubt for not winning the World Cup.”

Ancelotti took over after a tumultuous time for Brazil.

The team had struggled in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, losing twice to Argentina, and was knocked out by Uruguay in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Copa America. Three coaches came and left — caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and full-time coach Dorival Júnior were all fired after poor results and criticism from fans.

Meanwhile, Brazil pursued Ancelotti, whose second stint at Real Madrid appeared to heading toward an end despite the team winning both the Champions League and the Spanish league in 2024.

So confident is the Brazilian soccer confederation that it has made the right choice that it has already extended Ancelotti's contract until the 2030 World Cup.

“We have a beast taking care of our national team, a man who is respected by everyone,” Luís said. "This World Cup is for us to build on that.”

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

FILE -Brazil fans celebrate the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Brazil and Chile at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, June 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

A screen displays an image of Neymar after coach Carlo Ancelotti, left, included him in Brazil's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior reacts during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville, Spain, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

FILE- Brazil's Neymar controls the ball during a World Cup qualifying soccer match against Peru at National stadium in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File)

Coach Carlo Ancelotti arrives to announce Brazil's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

When the Nationals and Mets went to extra innings this past Monday, Washington was quick to intentionally walk Juan Soto in the top of the 10th. Then New York returned the favor, giving James Wood a free pass in the bottom half. When Soto came up again in the 12th, the Nats pitched to him — but after the count went to 2-0 he was sent to first to complete another intentional walk.

This back and forth was hardly a surprise. One byproduct of the automatic runner on second base is that extra innings are one of the few times managers can still stomach ordering up an intentional walk. It's a strategy that was beginning to fall out of favor otherwise.

In 2019, only 753 intentional walks were issued in the major leagues. That was the fewest since 1961, when there were fewer teams and fewer games.

And the number has only decreased since 2019. There were just 474 intentional walks in 2023 and 556 last year. Just as some statistically minded thinkers frown on the sacrifice bunt — don't give away outs! — it's also considered risky to give the other team an extra baserunner.

But in extra innings, the calculus changes. The inning starts with first base open, and if it's still tied in the bottom half, there's little downside to walking a good hitter intentionally and setting up a potential double play.

From 1974 to 2019 — before the automatic runner — there was an intentional walk every 140 plate appearances. In extra innings, it was one every 26.7.

Since 2020, there has been an intentional walk every 335 plate appearances overall. But in extra innings, it has been one every 16.7. In extra innings, intentional walks are actually more common than they used to be.

Some fans may enjoy the extra strategy, while others surely find it frustrating to watch the bat taken out of a player like Soto's hands. Since 2020, here are the major league leaders in extra-inning RBIs:

1. Eugénio Suarez, 22

2. Josh Naylor, 21

3. Alec Bohm, 20

4. Adolis García, 20

5. Daulton Varsho, 18

Here are the leaders in extra-inning intentional walks:

1. José Ramírez, 25

2. Aaron Judge, 19

3. Juan Soto, 16

4. Shohei Ohtani, 15

5. Bryce Harper, 15

The two intentional walks to Soto didn't stop the Mets on Monday. They scored 10 runs in the 12th inning and won 16-7. Carson Benge had two hits and three RBIs in the inning. Benge now has an MLB-best six extra-inning RBIs this season.

Which player hit five extra-inning home runs in the 2010 season alone? (Hint: His team reached the World Series that year.)

Reid Detmers of the Los Angeles Angels struck out 14 in eight one-hit innings Sunday night. Jake Burger homered in the second. That was the only batter Detmers failed to retire.

The Angels beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 on a ninth-inning throwing error by Justin Foscue.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were down by two in the bottom of the ninth to San Francisco on Tuesday night, with two outs and one on. Adrian Del Castillo hit an RBI single and Ryan Waldschmidt reached on catcher’s interference. Then Ketel Marte's three-run homer gave Arizona a 5-3 win. San Francisco's win probability peaked at 95.4% according to Baseball Savant.

The Diamondbacks have taken advantage of a soft patch on their schedule, going 8-2 against the Giants and Rockies in their last 10 games.

Nelson Cruz.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

New York Mets designated hitter Juan Soto, right, follows through his swing as he hits a two-RBI single against the Washington Nationals during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)

From left to right, New York Mets left fielder Tyrone Taylor, center fielder A.J. Ewing, and right fielder Carson Benge celebrate after winning a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)