Italian set to become world’s highest-paid national team coach ahead of 2026 World Cup
Carlo Ancelotti will become the next head coach of Brazil after his departure from Real Madrid at the end of the season, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed on Monday. The 65-year-old Italian will finally take the reins of the five-time world champions, ending years of speculation.
Ancelotti, one of football’s most decorated managers, is set to sign a one-year deal with Brazil, with an option to extend through the 2026 World Cup. He will also become the highest-paid national team coach in history. His Real Madrid successor is expected to be former club midfielder Xabi Alonso, who sources say has agreed a two-year contract with the option of a third.
“Ancelotti begins his mission next week,” said a CBF statement. “He will meet with officials to finalise the preliminary squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay.”
CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues hailed the appointment as a turning point for Brazilian football. “Bringing Carlo Ancelotti to coach Brazil is a statement to the world: we are determined to reclaim football’s top spot,” he said. “He is the greatest coach in history, and now he leads the greatest national team on the planet.”
Rodrigues had first revealed his desire to appoint Ancelotti over two years ago, after Tite’s departure in the wake of Brazil’s 2022 World Cup quarter-final loss to Croatia. Though Ancelotti extended his Real deal in December 2023, a disappointing season at the Bernabéu and his long-standing ambition to coach Brazil prompted a mutual decision to part ways.
Ancelotti’s final match in charge of Real is likely to be on May 25 at home to Real Sociedad, where he is expected to receive a farewell worthy of his legacy. Since returning for a second spell at Madrid in 2021, he added another Champions League and LaLiga double to his name, bringing his Madrid haul to three Champions Leagues, two LaLigas, and multiple domestic and international trophies.
With the Italian’s departure sealed, Xabi Alonso, fresh from a historic double-winning season with Bayer Leverkusen, is poised to return to Madrid before the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States this summer.