Seeking to claim their third successive victory in 2026 CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying, Brazil welcome Venezuela to Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba on Friday.

The visitors, meanwhile, are looking to pull off an almighty upset and win back-to-back World Cup qualifiers for the first time since 2009.

Match preview

Brazil interim head coach Fernando Diniz, who is juggling his international duties with his role in charge of Fluminense, won his first two games in charge of the Selecao last month, with a comfortable 5-1 victory over Bolivia followed by a narrow 1-0 success against Peru.

Rodrygo and Neymar both scored twice in Brazil's comfortable win at home against Bolivia, while a 90th-minute header from Marquinhos helped snatch all three points versus Peru and preserve their perfect start in qualifying.

The five-time world champions, ranked third in the world by FIFA, currently sit joint top of the CONMEBOL standings along with 2022 World Cup winners Argentina, and Diniz's men will look to extend their impressive unbeaten run in World Cup qualifying to 37 games with a positive result on Friday.

Brazil have remarkably never lost a World Cup qualifier on home soil and have won each of their last 15 such matches dating back to September 2016, scoring 46 goals and conceding just three in the process.

The South American giants are also unbeaten in their last 10 meetings with Friday's opponents Venezuela across all competitions, including a 3-1 away win in their last encounter just over two years ago.

Venezuela have enjoyed a positive start to life under head coach Fernando Batista, who has won four of his first six games in charge across all competitions since taking the reins in March.

La Vinotinto were unable to follow up back-to-back 1-0 friendly wins over Honduras and Guatemala with victory against Colombia in their opening World Cup qualifier last month as they lost by the same scoreline in Barranquilla. However, they returned to winning ways just four days later with a 1-0 success over Paraguay.

Venezuela were seemingly on course to claim just a point against a goal-shy Paraguayan outfit, but Batista's side were awarded a 90th-minute penalty following a VAR review and all-time record goalscorer Salomon Rondon stepped up to net his 40th international goal to secure all three points.

Ranked 53rd in the world by FIFA, Venezuela are hoping to qualify for their first-ever World Cup and have been boosted by the news that FIFA have allocated CONMEBOL an extra automatic qualifying place for the expanded 2026 tournament, meaning a top-six finish will secure their place at the Finals.

Venezuela, who currently sit fifth in the standings after two games, will be regarded as huge underdogs in Friday's encounter with Brazil, who they have only ever beaten once in their history – a 2-0 friendly triumph in Boston back in June 2008 courtesy of goals from Giancarlo Maldonado and Ronald Vargas.

Team News

Brazil quartet Raphinha, Renan Lodi, Vanderson and Caio Henrique have all withdrawn from the national team squad due to injury, while Joelinton and Eder Militao has not been selected as they continues to recover from knee problems.

Left-backs Guilherme Arana and the uncapped Carlos Augusto are both set to battle with each other for a starting spot in the back four alongside Danilo, Marquinhos and Gabriel Magalhaes, while Ederson could start for the third successive game in goal at the expense of Alisson Becker.

Al-Hilal new recruit Neymar is set to overtake Dani Alves (126) as Brazil's second most-capped player of all time and could be joined in attack by Real Madrid duo Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior as well as either Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus or Tottenham Hotspur's Richarlison.

As for Venezuela, Batista is unlikely to make too many changes to the side that beat Paraguay last time out, with Alexander Gonzalez set to get the nod at right-back in a four-man defence alongside Wilker Angel, Yordan Osorio and Miguel Navarro.

Santos duo Tomas Rincon and Yeferson Soteldo, Sport Recife's Roberto Rosales and Sao Paulo's Nahuel Ferraresi will all be looking to force their way into the first XI.

Thirty-four-year-old striker Rondon is set to earn his 99th international cap up front alongside Inter Miami's Josef Martinez.

Brazil possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Arana; Guimaraes, Casemiro; Rodrygo, Neymar, Vinicius Jr; Jesus

Venezuela possible starting lineup:
Romo; Gonzalez, Osorio, Angel, Navarro; Sosa, Rincon, Herrera, Soteldo; Josef Martinez, Rondon

We say: Brazil 2-0 Venezuela

Not since October 2015 have Brazil lost a World Cup qualifier and they should have few problems claiming all three points and maintaining their perfect start to qualifying on Friday.

Venezuela have built a positive run of form under new boss Batista, but the Selecao should ultimately have too much quality in the final third for the visitors.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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