Ancelotti looks after his former club; Brazil's national team excludes Real Madrid players but includes Raphinha.

The ex-Real Madrid manager Ancelotti currently leads Brazil’s national team. In the most recent World Cup qualifying roster, Neymar was omitted, no Real Madrid players were chosen, and only one Brazilian from Barcelona, Raphinha, was included. Since Brazil has already qualified for the 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup, Ancelotti’s choice to give Real Madrid players a break has stirred considerable discussion among supporters.

Most fans focus their criticism on the fact that Brazil has already qualified for the World Cup, yet Ancelotti decided to rest the Real Madrid Brazilian duo Vinicius and Rodrygo, excluding them to avoid long transatlantic flights, while still calling up Barcelona’s Brazilian international Raphinha.

Regarding this, journalist David Bernabeu openly expressed on the program "La Tribu": Ancelotti’s blatant favoritism between Real Madrid and Barcelona players is obvious—he should at least try to hide it by selecting a Real Madrid player. Such an exaggerated bias clearly shows his loyalty to his old club! Besides Vinicius and Rodrygo, Militão has also recovered and is available for Brazil’s qualifiers. There is now an unspoken understanding between Ancelotti and Real Madrid. It is an ironclad fact that Ancelotti favors Real Madrid over Barcelona, and Flick’s hope to rest Raphinha has been dashed.

Some fans defended Ancelotti, saying Brazil has already qualified for the World Cup and there is no need to test familiar players; he knows Real Madrid players too well. However, this argument was quickly challenged: isn’t Raphinha unfamiliar to Ancelotti? How many goals did Raphinha score against Real Madrid last season?

Note: Vinicius is suspended for one match due to accumulated yellow cards.