World Cup Qualifying - South America | Group Stage

Nov 14, 2024 at 9pm UK

Estadio Monumental de Maturin

Venezuelavs.Brazil

Match preview

It looked like Brazil might miss out on the World Cup before October's games, given how unconvincing their start to qualifying was.

It would be pretty surprising if the first finals the Selecao miss out on is the one that has just been expanded to its largest tournament ever, as 48 teams will travel to North America in 2026.

Manager Dorival Junior was lucky that the schedule gave them two winnable games against the current bottom two, who are almost out of contention to qualify.

Once again, Brazil didn't exactly dazzle, needing a late goal from Luiz Henrique to beat Chile and put an end to their three-game losing streak on the road.

The five-time world champions had a better showing when they returned home to face Peru a few days later. Brazil ran out 4-0 winners, moving level on points with Uruguay and four clear of Bolivia in the playoff place down in seventh.

After this trip to Venezuela, Brazil will face all the other teams in the top five in their next four games. It's really important that they make the most of this one and get some crucial points on the board.

History shows they should have no problem doing so, given they've won all nine previous away games against Venezuela, scoring 39 goals in the process. However, Brazil aren't as strong as they once were, and the hosts are rapidly improving.

The last time Venezuela and Brazil drew on matchday three was in 2022. It was just the second time in history that Venezuela avoided defeat to Brazil, which gave them a boost in their hopes of reaching the finals for the first time.

The team kept up their winning streak for the rest of 2023, but since they got back to qualifying after the Copa America, their hopes have taken a bit of a hit during the autumn schedule.

La Vinotinto are still unbeaten at home in this section, holding Argentina and Uruguay to draws over the last two months. However, their away form is letting them down once again.

In qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, Venezuela lost all nine games away from home, which saw them finish at the bottom of the table. This time around, they've done slightly better, but they've only managed to take two points from a possible 15 so far.

Fernando Batista's side has dropped out of the top seven entirely after losing away to Bolivia and Paraguay in their last two games. They started last month in an automatic qualifying spot.

It's still pretty tight though. Venezuela is just one point behind Bolivia for the playoff spot, and two behind Ecuador and Paraguay for the final two automatic qualifying spots. So it'll probably change again once matchdays 11 and 12 are done.

Recent Performance

Venezuela World Cup Qualifying - South America form:DDLDDL

Venezuela form (all competitions):WLLDDL

Brazil World Cup Qualifying - South America form:LLWLWW

Brazil form (all competitions):DLWLWW

Team News

Defence is still the main issue when it comes to availability for Venezuela. Another player was added to the injury list last week, with Yordan Osorio pulling out of the squad at the last minute due to injury.

Osorio joins Jhon Chancellor and the uncapped, but promising, Teo Quintero on the sidelines, with those two being forced to pull out of the September and October international breaks due to injuries.

Salomon Rondon is still the team's standout player at 35. He's scored almost half of their goals in this section, and the former Newcastle United and Everton striker has kept up his great form in Mexico. He scored a hat trick for Pachuca at the start of the month.

Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson is still out with a hamstring injury he picked up playing for Liverpool last month, so Ederson is set to deputise again and try to secure a rare win, given that his Manchester City side have now lost four on the spin.

The first 45 minutes of Real Madrid's clash with Osasuna last weekend were not great for anyone with Brazil on their mind. Rodrygo was forced off early on, and Eder Militao tore his ACL just minutes later, ending his season.

Bremer is also out with the same injury in the same position, and Dorival Junior has decided to leave out defensive trio Lucas Beraldo, Fabricio Bruno and Alex Telles from last month's squad.

Endrick isn't involved this time either, but Estevao Willian is, having missed the October games because he wasn't match fit.

Possible starting lineup

Venezuela possible starting lineup:

Romo; Gonzalez, R Ramirez, Ferraresi, Aramburu; Martinez, Rincon, Herrera; Soteldo, Rondon, Savarino

Brazil possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Vanderson, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Abner; Lucas Paqueta, Bruno Guimaraes; Luiz Henrique, Raphinha, Vinicius Junior; Igor Jesus