Building a toolkit, not settling on a formula
Two days before Brazil's final warm-up against Egypt, Carlo Ancelotti continues to resist the comfort of certainty, rotating players and reshaping formations as a deliberate act of preparation rather than indecision. The Italian coach is not searching for a single answer but building a vocabulary of tactical options — a recognition that long tournaments demand adaptability as much as identity. In the space between training ground and tournament, he is asking not who his best eleven are, but who they can become against different opponents.
- Ancelotti opened Thursday's session to cameras for just fifteen minutes — enough to reveal a squad still in flux, with no settled lineup in sight two days before kickoff.
- Rayan's shift back to the right wing and Paquetá's unexplained absence signal that the coach is actively reshuffling pieces, not fine-tuning a finished puzzle.
- Compressing midfield to a two-man pairing of Casemiro and Bruno Guimarães forced Raphinha into an attacking midfielder role, a subtle but tactically loaded repositioning.
- Ancelotti has promised further formation tests on Friday, treating Saturday's Egypt match as a live laboratory rather than a showcase of established identity.
- The underlying tension is clear: Brazil has abundant talent but no locked-in formula, and the Copa's varied opponents will demand answers the coach is still formulating.
Carlo Ancelotti spent Thursday's training session doing what he has done all week — experimenting. With the Egypt friendly just two days away and the Copa on the horizon, Brazil's coach divided his squad into groups and ran through tactical configurations that have yet to solidify into anything final. He has been transparent about this: no starting lineup is set, and Friday will bring more tests before Saturday's match.
The session offered a glimpse of one possible arrangement. Rayan returned to the right wing — having played on the left the day before — alongside Raphinha, Vini Jr, and Igor Thiago in attack. Marquinhos and Léo Pereira anchored the defense, with Wesley and Douglas Santos as fullbacks. The midfield shrank to two, with Casemiro and Bruno Guimarães paired together, a notable departure from Wednesday's structure.
Lucas Paquetá's absence was conspicuous. More significantly, the two-man midfield pushed Raphinha into a central attacking role previously occupied by Matheus Cunha — a small shift in positioning that carries real tactical weight, altering how Brazil balances width against central penetration.
Ancelotti's day-to-day adjustments suggest he is not chasing a perfect lineup so much as assembling a set of options. Brazil's squad has the depth to play multiple systems; the challenge is knowing which one to deploy against which opponent. The Egypt match, then, is less a dress rehearsal than a data-gathering exercise — a chance to stress-test combinations before the tournament's stakes make experimentation costly.
Two days before Brazil faces Egypt in what amounts to a final dress rehearsal before the Copa begins, Carlo Ancelotti is still searching. The Italian coach opened Thursday's training session to the press for fifteen minutes, enough time to watch him divide the squad into two groups and begin testing the tactical options he might need when the tournament starts. What emerged was not a settled lineup—Ancelotti has made clear he will keep experimenting through Friday—but rather a window into how he is thinking about the team's flexibility.
Rayan occupied the right wing in the group that looked closest to a starting eleven, a position he has played regularly, though he had shifted to the left side during Wednesday's session. Around him, the attacking shape took form with Raphinha, Vini Jr, and Igor Thiago completing the front four. The defense was anchored by Marquinhos and Léo Pereira at center back, with Wesley and Douglas Santos as fullbacks. In midfield, Casemiro and Bruno Guimarães worked together, a two-man pairing that represented one of the more significant shifts from the previous day's work.
The absence of Lucas Paquetá stood out. On Wednesday, the midfielder had been part of the group; now he was not. More broadly, Ancelotti's decision to compress the midfield to two players meant that Raphinha, rather than operating as a pure winger, was being asked to function as the attacking midfielder—the role traditionally filled by Matheus Cunha in recent sessions. It was a small change in nomenclature but a meaningful one tactically, suggesting the coach is considering how to balance width and central penetration depending on the opponent and the moment.
Ancelotti has been explicit that no starting lineup has been locked in. The Egypt match on Saturday is meant to be a laboratory as much as a test, a chance to see how different combinations function under pressure before the stakes genuinely matter. The fact that he is making notable adjustments day to day—swapping players in and out, shifting positions, altering the midfield structure—suggests he is not yet confident in a single formula. Instead, he appears to be building a toolkit, a set of tactical options he can deploy across different scenarios and opponents throughout the tournament.
This approach reflects both the depth of the squad and the uncertainty that comes with preparing for a long competition. Brazil has multiple players capable of playing several positions; the question is not whether they have talent but how to arrange it. By testing different formations and combinations now, Ancelotti is trying to understand which adjustments might be necessary when Brazil faces teams with different styles, different weaknesses, different ways of pressing and defending. The Egypt friendly, then, is less about proving anything and more about gathering information—about the players, about the formations, about what works and what does not when the team is actually playing.
Notable Quotes
Ancelotti has made clear he will keep experimenting through Friday— Training session observations
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why keep changing the lineup two days before a friendly? Doesn't that create confusion?
Not if you think of it differently. Ancelotti isn't trying to settle on a team yet. He's mapping out what's possible. Each session teaches him something about how players fit together.
But doesn't the team need continuity? Don't they need to know who they are?
They will, once the tournament starts. Right now, he's buying information. If Rayan works on the right, if Raphinha can play that deeper role, if two midfielders can hold the line—he needs to know all of that before Egypt matters.
What about the players? Don't they need to know where they're playing?
Some uncertainty is uncomfortable, yes. But these are professionals. They understand that a coach testing formations is not the same as a coach who doesn't know what he wants. Ancelotti is being deliberate.
Is there a risk he waits too long to decide?
There is. But the alternative—picking a lineup now and sticking with it rigidly—might be worse. Copa is long. Teams that can adapt usually go further than teams that cannot.
So Saturday against Egypt is really just another training session?
Functionally, yes. It's a training session where the other team is trying to win. That matters. It's the closest thing to real pressure before the real pressure begins.