It is a sobering thought, but in previous World Cup qualification campaigns, Brazil would have needed to go through a playoff to secure their place in the tournament. With the expansion to 48 teams, they made it through relatively comfortably, but there's a lot of work ahead, and not much time in which to do it.
Carlo Ancelotti only has friendlies in October, November and March before naming his squad. The arrival of the Italian manager has strengthened Brazil's defense, with just one goal -- a VAR-awarded penalty -- scored against them in the past four games.
Getting the attack to click will be one of Ancelotti's priorities, and where he will be seeking to solve something that, surprisingly, has plagued Brazil in recent times: Who is going to play at center forward?
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This is the country of Leônidas and Ademir de Menezes, the top scorers respectively of the World Cups of 1938 and 1950. Then, in the five World Cup-winning teams, they had Vavá, Tostão, Romario, and Ronaldo. It is a fabulous tradition.
But with more wingers than they know what to do with, producing strikers that like to play through the middle has proven something of a headache. Going into the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Gabriel Jesus appeared to have the position sewn up. But he had a very disappointing tournament, which seemed to rob him of his confidence as a goalscorer, and that, combined with a run of injuries, has cast him to the sidelines.
Suddenly, though, the cupboard does not look so bare. A battle for the position will take place over the next few months, much of it in the Premier League.
Richarlison, Brazil's center forward in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, is once again a strong candidate, and he has two big advantages. One is that Ancelotti is a fan, after working with him at Everton, and the other is that he looks fit and fresh. He clearly endured a lot from being released to play both the Copa América and the Olympic tournament in 2021.
It was a case of too much football, and it took its toll with a succession of minor injuries over the next few years. But now he says that he has enjoyed his best preseason for years, and the early signs are that he is looking very sharp.
He faces plenty of competition. A different type of striker is João Pedro, whose profile in Brazil benefited enormously from that move to Chelsea during the FIFA Club World Cup. He came off the bench to give his home crowd an impressive display of his skill and versatility. Richarlison is a vertical, front-to-goal striker, but João Pedro is much more proficient at dropping to combine, which came through in his performance last week against Chile.
Matheus Cunha would have been there in the squad alongside them, eager for his audition, but he was forced out by injury. His chance will probably come.
A star of the Under-23 team that won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Cunha was probably unfortunate not to go to the last World Cup. Two things counted against him. Given a run in the Qatar qualifiers, he did not do badly, but he did not score. It also counted against him that he had never played professionally at home. Instead, he had bounced around from Switzerland, Germany, Spain and then on to England occasionally falling out with coaches as he went.
His move to Manchester United could well be make or break. It has increased his visibility, and it is now up to him to take advantage. With his capacity to play up front or just behind the main striker, he could well find himself in direct competition with João Pedro.
The lively Evanilson at Bournemouth is another possible candidate, but one who Ancelotti certainly has his eye on is recent Nottingham Forest signing Igor Jesus.
In one of his first days in Brazil, Ancelotti was in the stadium to see Igor Jesus come out with an outstanding display to keep Botafogo in the Copa Libertadores. In a game they had to win, they had a man sent off early, but Igor Jesus carried them over the line and produced a performance of similar quality when Botafogo beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup.
A one-man forward line who also works hard as the first line of defense, Igor Jesus comes across as an example of the spirit of sacrifice that Ancelotti craves. The problem, though, is whether the striker will get enough game time in his first season at Forest.
There are some home-based candidates for Ancelotti to assess. Kaio Jorge of Cruzeiro made his debut off the bench last week against Chile and was then forced out of the Bolivia game by injury.
An intelligent, nimble striker, he did not succeed in Italy with Juventus, but has picked up momentum since moving back. Much the same applies to Vitor Roque, a flop at Barcelona but starting to find his powerful feet at Palmeiras. And there is always Pedro of Flamengo, who went to the last World Cup. A firm favorite with the fans, Pedro is a superb finisher, although doubts remain about whether he is sufficiently quick and mobile for the modern game.
And what about Endrick? He looked like the boy wonder less than a year and a half ago when he scored the winner at Wembley and was on target a few days later away to Spain.
He perhaps suffered from a premature move to Real Madrid, where Ancelotti struggled to fit him into a lineup that already had to make space for Kylian Mbappé. Might Endrick find some form between now and next June?
There is no shortage of options, then, for Ancelotti to go looking for a center forward. But there is a shortage of time to sift through those options. Candidates will have to take all the chances they have, which means that every Premier League weekend is not only to compete for points, but also to compete to lead the attacking line for Brazil in the World Cup.