Brazil to face Australia in friendly

Townsville – AFP – Brazil, led by Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti, and host Australia are looking to use their two consecutive friendly matches as the first stage in a rebuilding process following the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Brazil will face Australia’s “Socceroos” in Townsville on Friday, before a second encounter in Brisbane next Tuesday.

These matches will mark the first appearances for both teams since their World Cup campaigns ended in July, with Australia eliminated in the Round of 32, while five-time champions Brazil suffered a surprise defeat to Norway in the Round of 16.

In response, Ancelotti selected only nine players from Brazil’s World Cup squad for the two matches against Australia and a third game against India in Kolkata on October 3.

Australia coach Tony Popovic also made extensive changes to his lineup, omitting 10 players from the World Cup squad, including veteran goalkeeper and captain Mathew Ryan, and striker Christian Folbat, who was fined this month after testing positive for cocaine.

Popovic included seven players with no previous international caps in the 25-man squad, which received a blow after the withdrawal of England’s Norwich City striker Mohamed Toure due to injury, as part of preparations for the AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia in January and February.