Brazilian media highlight the Samba Team's failure at the 2026 World Cup, with Ancelotti becoming the central focus of the ongoing performance evaluation.

Brazil's failure to progress to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup has triggered a wave of criticism from local media. Defeat against Norway in the Round of 16 did not only end Seleção's run at the tournament, it also sparked widespread critical review of the team's performance and Carlo Ancelotti's debut as head coach of the Samba side.

All major Brazilian media outlets uniformly described this elimination as a massive setback in the nation's decades-long attempt to claim their sixth World Cup title, known locally as the Hexa.

Leading newspaper O Globo labelled the defeat as the death of Brazil's dream to return as world champions.

"The end of the Hexa dream"

The outlet noted that Carlo Ancelotti's first World Cup campaign with Brazil ended far sooner than anticipated. The Samba team failed even to reach the quarter final stage, a round that has repeatedly proven to be an insurmountable stumbling block for Brazil across recent tournament editions.

Per O Globo's analysis, Brazil also set an unwanted historic record. This marks the first time since the 1990 World Cup that Seleção have been knocked out at the last 16 stage - when their campaign was previously ended by Diego Maradona's Argentina.

Beyond the final score, match statistics also drew heavy criticism. During the fixture against Norway in New Jersey, Brazil only managed 32% ball possession. This is the lowest possession percentage ever recorded for Seleção in any World Cup match, since official tracking of this metric began in 1966.

This same critical tone was mirrored by Folha de S.Paulo, which framed the exit as the collapse of a shared national football dream.

"Brazil are out, and the dream is gone", the publication wrote.

The paper also acknowledged Norway's disciplined, effective game plan that secured their victory via two second half goals from Erling Haaland.

Folha de S.Paulo additionally highlighted the poignant final appearance for Neymar. At 34 years old, this is universally accepted to have been the forward's last ever World Cup match, making this defeat all the more devastating for Brazilian supporters.

That said, the newspaper did argue Ancelotti must be allowed space to deliver on his long term rebuild plan, noting the Italian coach had not had sufficient time to fully implement his playing system since being appointed in May the previous year.

By contrast, outlet UOL published far harsher judgement of Brazil's performance.

"This failure with Seleção is the single biggest defeat of Ancelotti's entire career, for a man who is considered royalty at club level", the publication stated.

In a separate opinion column for UOL, football analyst Mauro Cezar Pereira directly blamed the elimination on the coach's tactical calls.

"This elimination was caused entirely by the coach's decisions. From the core match strategy, right down to the deliberate choice to once again set the team up to play without possession", he wrote.

Pereira also noted this marked yet another elimination at the hands of a European nation, extending an unbroken negative trend for Brazil that began at the 2006 World Cup.

Separate coverage from Gazeta Esportiva focused on Bruno Guimarães' first half penalty miss.

The outlet confirmed the Newcastle United midfielder became the first Brazilian player to miss a regulation time penalty at a World Cup since Zico suffered the same fate against France back in the 1986 tournament.

The unified critical reaction across all national media demonstrates the scale of public disappointment in Brazil following the 2026 World Cup. All focus now falls on Carlo Ancelotti, who faces huge pressure to immediately rebuild the Selecao and finally end the country's World Cup title drought dating back to 2002.