Brazil FA chief: Dorival to stay as boss until WC

Dorival Junior will remain in charge of Brazil at least until the 2026 World Cup despite the team’s early Copa América exit, the country’s football federation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said.

Dorival came under fire after Brazil’s Copa América quarterfinal exit at the hands of Uruguay on Saturday.

Brazil failed to impress at the tournament and won just one of their group games before losing 4-2 in a penalty shootout against 10-man Uruguay on Saturday after a feisty 0-0 draw.

“In two months, we have the World Cup qualifying rounds, and the plan is to continue [with Dorival],” Rodrigues told ESPN Brasil.

“This is a World Cup cycle, and he and his coaching staff understand what needs to be fixed. Dorival is aware of what went wrong. This is how a winning team is built.”

Dorival took “full responsibility” for his team’s elimination but added that this group “has great room to grow and evolve and improve.”

Rodrigues agreed that the coach needed more time to implement his ideas.

“We wanted to win [the Copa América], but we also know that this is the beginning of working with a new group,” he said. “There are young players who are coming in now and so we knew that too.”

Brazil last won the Copa América in 2019 and suffered a 1-0 home loss to Argentina in the final two years later.

The Seleção also fell at the quarterfinal stages of the 2022 World Cup.

They went into the tournament in the United States without the country’s all-time leading scorer Neymar, out injured with an ACL tear, and following a hugely disappointing start to CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.

Brazil are sixth in the standings after winning only two of their six qualifiers and suffering three defeats, results that led to Dorival ‘s appointment in January.

His team resume their World Cup qualifying campaign at home to Ecuador on Sept. 4.