The Maracana is about to be the scene of a new shock. On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday (1:30 a.m. French time), the legendary Rio de Janeiro venue will host the 111th confrontation in history between Brazil and Argentina, as part of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. giants of the South America zone, who both lost their last match, the meeting does not have the same stakes.
The Brazilians, who are in fifth place in their group (out of ten participating nations), are indeed going through a bad patch. In these qualifiers, they remain in three matches without a victory, including two losses in a row, which has never happened to them before in their history. For Fernando Diniz, responsible (a priori) for acting as interim manager while awaiting the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti, it is therefore imperative to raise the bar against the historic rival. Problem: the coach will be deprived of a good part of his executives for this summit meeting, starting with Neymar and Vinicius Jr, both injured.
The horizon is clearer for the Albiceleste, well ahead of the group with four victories in five matches. His setback against Uruguay (0-2) on Friday certainly made him cede his first place in the FIFA rankings to France, but the selection of Lionel Scaloni is still on cloud nine since his victory at the World Cup. , eleven months ago. For Argentine fans, this match will above all be an opportunity to admire Angel Di Maria for one of the last times in the azure and white jersey: the winger announced this week that he would retire from international football next summer , at the end of the Copa America.
Brazil-Argentina will kick off at 1:30 a.m. (French time) this Wednesday, November 22 at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro and the match will be broadcast live on La Chaîne L’Équipe.
