The Brazilians may not be at crisis point just yet, but a bad October could see panic spread across the nation.

Brazil are the only nation to have taken part in every single World Cup since the tournament's inception in 1930, but they face the remarkable prospect of not reaching the finals in 2026 despite the tournament's expansion to 48 teams.

CONMEBOL have been given two extra automatic qualifying places, and this could be Brazil's reprieve, as they would currently be outside of them had the format not been expanded.

On current form, however, there is no guarantee that Brazil will finish in the top six, with Venezuela, Paraguay and Bolivia breathing down their necks.

After eight games, Brazil are level on 10 points with Venezuela, one ahead of Paraguay and Bolivia, and it was Paraguay who beat the Selecao on the eighth matchday last month.

Brazil have also lost to the current top three, contributing to a run of just two wins in their last nine competitive matches, and Dorival Junior's side were knocked out of the Copa America at the quarter-final stage in the summer.

It is therefore the perfect time to take on the current bottom two in CONMEBOL qualifying, and Brazil's record against Chile is usually excellent, having lost just one of their last 19 meetings.

Chile's current form suggests that they have little chance of improving on their poor record against the Selecao, who are in the midst of a major crisis.

Even the appointment of Ricardo Gareca has done little to improve the fortunes of a nation that won back-to-back Copa America titles in 2015 and 2016.

Chile crashed out of the Copa America group stage without scoring in the summer and then lost 3-0 to Argentina in Gareca's first qualifier.

While the new coach could be forgiven for that defeat, there was no excuse for their performance at home to Bolivia a few days later, when they became the first team in 67 matches and over three decades to lose a home qualifier.

Chile's only win of the section came against the only team below them in the standings, Peru, and La Roja are ninth on five points.

Unless there is a drastic improvement, Chile will miss the finals for the third time in a row, something no La Roja fan would have thought possible after their valiant performance at finals in 2014.

Unsurprisingly, Gareca has made a number of changes to the squad that was humiliated by Bolivia last month.

Veterans Mauricio Isla and Gabriel Arias have both been dropped in favour of younger blood, while Ben Brereton Diaz has also been left out due to poor form for club and country.

Alexis Sanchez remains out injured and has yet to feature since his return to Udinese, while Matias Catalan and Vicente Pizarro are also currently unavailable.

Brazil will be without goalkeeper Alisson after he picked up a hamstring injury in Liverpool's win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, meaning Ederson will only be making his 26th appearance for the Reds.

Vinicius Junior has also been ruled out with a minor neck injury, meaning that Real Madrid's front three will be split, with Rodrygo and Endrick still in contention.

Dorival Junior has a number of defensive injuries to contend with, with Bremer, Eder Militao and Guilherme Arana all sidelined, leaving Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes almost certain to win his 10th cap.

Chile possible starting lineup:

Cortes; Hormazabal, Maripan, P Diaz, Galdames; Valdes, Osorio, Echeverria, Pulgar; Vargas, Davila

Brazil possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Alex Telles; Andre, Bruno Guimaraes, Lucas Paqueta; Raphinha, Endrick, Rodrygo

Prediction:Chile 0-2 Brazil

Chile VS Brazil stream and TV listing

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