Brazil vs Chile

Chile’s uphill task to reach December’s showpiece event continues this weekend as they head to the famous Maracana to take on Brazil in a high-stakes World Cup qualifying fixture.

Five-time World Cup winners Brazil have already sealed their place in the upcoming World Cup finals, courtesy of a thoroughly dominant World Cup qualifying record (W12, D3). Aiming to become the first South American nation to complete the entire World Cup qualifying campaign without suffering a single defeat in the 18-game format, the ‘Selecao’ boast a 100% win ratio in World Cup home qualifiers (W13) under current head coach Tite. They have only conceded twice across those 13 victories, highlighting their off-the-charts defensive compactness. Having announced his decision to withdraw from the national team after Qatar 2022 last month, Tite will be keen to maintain his outstanding 100% unbeaten record in World Cup qualifiers in charge of Brazil since his appointment in 2016 (W22, D3).

Meanwhile, Chile’s hopes of returning to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2014 are hanging by a thread as they enter the penultimate round of qualifiers trailing fifth-placed Peru by two points. The magnitude of the task facing ‘La Roja’ is evident. However, after ending a run of back-to-back World Cup qualifying defeats with a 3-2 win away to Bolivia last time out, they will unlikely give up their hopes of making it to the inter-confederation play-offs at the very least. Moreover, Martin Lasarte’s men have won their last two World Cup away matches by a single-goal margin after going winless in their opening six in the ongoing cycle (D2, L4). They have scored four goals across those two victories, as many as they had in their previous six road trips in the current World Cup qualifying campaign.