Road to 2026 World Cup - Brazil and Senegal

ROAD TO THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP: BRAZIL AND SENEGAL

Brazil and Senegal - who meet in a friendly match at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on Saturday 15 November - are two of 28 nations to have so far confirmed their place at the 48-team, 2026 FIFA World Cup. Andy Greeves takes a look at the 'Seleção' and the 'The Lions of Teranga's' road to the next summer's tournament in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

BRAZIL

Brazil achieved qualification for their 23rd FIFA World Cup finals by virtue of a fifth-place finish in the 10-team CONMEBOL group table.

The Seleção beat Bolivia 5-1 in their opening qualification match for the 2026 World Cup. Rodrygo and Neymar Jr. both scored braces in their triumph in Belém on September 8, 2023. A 90th-minute winner from Marquinhos made it two victories from two as Brazil triumphed in Peru four days later. In their October 2023 matches, Brazil drew 1-1 with Venezuela in Cuiabá - a game in which Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhães scored - and lost 0-2 away to Uruguay.

Brazil were beaten again on November 16, 2023 as they suffered a 1-2 away defeat to Colombia. Gabriel Martinelli had given the Seleção a fourth-minute lead in Barranquilla before a second half brace from Luis Díaz condemned them to defeat. Fernando Diniz's side suffered a third consecutive loss on November 21, 2023 as a Nicolás Otamendi goal gave bitter rivals Argentina a 1-0 victory at the Maracanã.

New head coach Dorival Júnior oversaw Brazil's return to winning ways as a strike from Rodrygo gave them a 1-0 triumph over Ecuador on September 6, 2024. But the Seleção's joy was short lived as Diego Gómez's goal saw them go down to a 0-1 defeat to Paraguay in Asunción four days later. Two wins from two in October 2024 got Brazil's qualification campaign back on track. They came from behind to beat Chile 2-1 in Santiago and they followed that up with a 4-0 triumph over Peru in Brasília.

Raphinha's third goal in qualifying helped them secure a 1-1 draw in Venezuela on November 14, 2024 while their home game with Uruguay in Salvador five days later ended in a 1-1 draw. Dorival Júnior's last matches as Brazil head coach saw his side beat Colombia 2-1 in Brasília on March 20 this year prior to a heavy 1-4 defeat in Argentina five days later.

Managerial legend Carlo Ancelotti took charge of his first match as Brazil head coach on June 5, as the Seleção drew 0-0 with Ecuador in Guayaquil. Brazil's place at the 2026 World Cup was then sealed with a 1-0 win over Paraguay in São Paulo on 10 June, with Vinícius Júnior scoring the all-important winning goal. Brazil's qualification campaign ended with a 3-0 win over Chile and a 0-1 defeat in Bolivia back in September.

Did you know?

Raphinha was Brazil's top scorer in their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with five goals. Next up was Rodrygo with three goals and Luiz Henrique, Neymar Jr. and Vinícius Júnior with two goals apiece.
While he has held the manager's job with some of world's biggest clubs, including Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Napoli, Carlo Ancelotti is currently in his first role as the head coach of a national team.
Six teams from South America have achieved automatic qualification, with Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay joining Brazil at next summer's tournament while Bolivia will be the continent's representatives in the inter-confederation play-offs in March 2026.

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification - CONMEBOL Brazil Results

8 September 2023 - Bolivia (H) - W 5-1
12 September 2023 - Peru (A) - W 1-0
12 October 2023 - Venezuela (H) - D 1-1
17 October 2023 - Uruguay (A) - L 0-2
16 November 2023 - Colombia (A) - L 1-2
21 November 2023 - Argentina (H) - L 0-1
6 September 2024 - Ecuador (H) - W 1-0
10 September 2024 - Paraguay (A) - L 0-1
10 October 2024 - Chile (A) - W 2-1
15 October 2024 - Peru (H) - W 4-0
14 November 2024 - Venezuela (A) - D 1-1
19 November 2024 - Uruguay (H) - D 1-1
20 March 2025 - Colombia (H) - W 2-1
25 March 2025 - Argentina (A) - L 1-4
5 June 2025 - Ecuador (A) - D 0-0
10 June 2025 - Paraguay (H) - W 1-0
4 September 2025 - Chile (H) - W 3-0
9 September 2025 - Bolivia (A) - L 0-1


Senegal Kit 1 Copyright © Soccerphile	Senegal Kit 2 Copyright © Soccerphile

SENEGAL

Along with Ivory Coast, Senegal claimed the last of Africa's automatic qualifications at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on October 14 with a 4-0 victory over Mauritania securing first place in Group B. A brace from Sadio Mané and strikes from Iliman Ndiaye and Habib Diallo in Diamniadio rounded off an excellent qualification campaign for the Lions of Teranga in which they won seven of their 10 group matches and drew the other three.

Their campaign also began with a 4-0 victory at the Diamniadio Olympic Stadium on November 18, 2023. A Mané brace and goals from Pape Matar Sarr and Lamine Camera gave them convincing win over South Sudan that night. A goalless draw with Togo three days later followed by a 1-1 draw with eventual group runners-up DR Congo and a 1-0 win in Mauritania in June 2024 continued that good start. Crystal Palace's Ismaïla Sarr got the goal in the draw with DR Congo while Habib Diallo got the winner against Mauritania.

Senegal's first qualifying match under new head coach Pape Thiaw saw the Lions of Teranga play out a goalless draw with Sudan in Benghazi on March 22 this year. Three days later, strikes from Sarr and a Kévin Boma own-goal gave them a 2-0 victory over Togo in Diamniadio. There were back-to-back victories for Senegal in September. The Lions of Teranga won 2-0 at home to Sudan, thanks to goals from Kalidou Koulibaly and Pape Matar Sarr and beat DR Congo 3-2 in Kinshasa where Pape Gueye, Nicolas Jackson and Pape Matar Sarr were on target.

Senegal's 5-0 triumph in South Sudan on October 10 featured a brace from Crystal Palace's Ismaïla Sarr and strikes from Mané, Jackson and Cherif Ndiaye prior to the aforementioned 4-0 win over Mauritania that booked the Lions of Teranga's third appearance at the finals of a World Cup. They reached the quarter-finals on their tournament debut in 2002 followed by a group stage appearance in 2018 and a run to the round of 16 in 2022.

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF Group B Senegal Results

18 November 2023 - South Sudan (H) - W 4-0
21 November 2023 - Togo (A) - D 0-0
6 June 2024 - DR Congo (H) - D 1-1
9 June 2024 - Mauritania (A) - W 1-0
22 March 2025 - Sudan (A) - D 0-0
25 March 2025 - Togo (H) - W 2-0
5 September 2025 - Sudan (H) - W 2-0
9 September 2025 - DR Congo (A) - W 3-2
10 October 2025 - South Sudan (A) - W 5-0
14 October 2025 - Mauritania (H) - W 4-0

Did you know?

Senegal are one of nine African nations to have so far secured qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, along with Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia. Nigeria faced Gabon and Cameroon played DR Congo on Thursday to determine who will play in Sunday's play-off final, with the winner of that taking CAF's place in the inter-confederation play-offs.
Sadio Mané was Senegal's top goalscorer in qualification for the 2026 World Cup with five goals. Habib Diallo and Nicholas Jackson both scored twice.
By the end of the second round of competition, Mohamed Amoura was the top goalscorer in qualifying in the CAF region with 10 goals for Algeria.

Senegal are in Group I at World Cup 2026 where they will face France, Norway and Iraq.