A partnership between the world’s best man-manager and the Seleção will be fun – and potentially glorious The year is 2026 and Carlo Ancelotti is recreating a famous Real Madrid photo. Once more he finds himself on an open-top bus celebrating a landmark victory in sunglasses while smoking a cigar, accompanied by a smiling Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior and Éder Militão. David Alaba is missing and there are confusing new additions, such as Casemiro and Raphinha. Pan out and we realise we’re nowhere near the Cibeles Fountain in Madrid but are instead on Avenida Atlântica by Copacabana beach. Yellow and green confetti fills the sky and Neymar is showing off a record-extending sixth World Cup to an adoring crowd. He’s finally won them over for delivering the hexa, something expected of him since he rose to prominence as a spiky-haired Santos prodigy at the turn of the 2010s, and they have fallen in love with the Seleção again. Continue reading...

The Copa do Brasil is back after a nine-year break but there are concerns about Brazil’s top flight before a first World Cup in South America After a nine-year hiatus, fans of Brazilian women’s football will once again be able to support their clubs in the Copa do Brasil. The cup will bring together 65 clubs from the three divisions of the national women’s football league, starting with a preliminary round on 21 May and concluding with the final in November. It is a return that has long been requested by the women’s football community in Brazil in order to expand the calendar for lower-division clubs and gives high-profile teams such as Flamengo, Corinthians and Santos another opportunity to compete for silverware. However, all is not rosy on the Brazilian club scene only two years before Brazil are to host the Women’s World Cup for the first time. There have been a few years of growing sponsorship and visibility in the top tier, the Brasileirão A1, but this season has exposed the challenges facing the game. This is an extract from our free weekly email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is back in to its twice-weekly format, delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday. Continue reading...

On 19 November 1969, the Brazil legend sparked wild celebrations with the 1,000th goal of his career – but it may have been scored five days earlier It was 14 November 1969. For the world’s greatest player, it wasn’t the best penalty. More an untidy scuff into the bottom corner. But it was enough for Pelé and his Santos team to open the scoring in a 3-0 friendly win over lowly Botafogo da Paraiba. More importantly, it marked the great man’s 999th senior goal. Or did it? Five days later, Santos travelled to Rio de Janeiro to face Vasco da Gama in a cup game and it seemed as if the entire nation was jammed into the cavernous Maracanã to witness a piece of football history. Despite a tropical rainstorm, every TV station, radio network and newspaper elbowed their way along the touchline waiting for the magic moment to happen. Continue reading...

Brazil call up teenage forward Endrick to replace Neymar for this month's World Cup qualifiers after the Santos attacker picks up a muscle injury.

Neymar opens the scoring in Santos' 2-0 win over Bragantino to advance to the Campeonato Paulista semi-finals.