Ancelotti's Brazil Prepares for Haaland Challenge
Carlo Ancelotti has seen enough of Erling Haaland to know one thing: you don’t stop him with a gimmick. You stop him with a team.
On Sunday at MetLife Stadium, Brazil’s pursuit of a sixth World Cup crown runs straight into Norway and their Manchester City phenomenon, a last‑16 tie loaded with storylines and physical duels all over the pitch. Yet Ancelotti is in no mood to dress it up as a one‑man mission.
“I don’t think that there is such a thing as an ‘anti-Haaland’ plan,” the Brazil coach said, cutting down the idea before it could grow legs. “I don’t need to tell my players how to defend, they have faced each other a few times.”
Brazil arrive in East Rutherford with momentum and scars in equal measure. They topped Group C, then had to dig deep against Japan in the last 32, coming from behind and only surviving thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Gabriel Martinelli. It was the kind of nervy escape that can either rattle a campaign or harden it.
Ancelotti is banking on the latter.
“Our team is in an optimal condition. However, we need to continue improving,” he said, aware that Norway bring a very different challenge to Japan’s relentless energy. Where Japan probed and swarmed, Norway will build and batter, with Haaland the obvious reference point in a well-rehearsed system.
“Everyone knows how he works,” Ancelotti added of Haaland. “I have nothing to explain to my defenders how to play against him. They have obviously played against him several times, so we are only focused on being well prepared for the match, understanding the basic characteristics of the opponent and we know that they are very dangerous offensively.
“Norway is a challenging team, a team that has structure, has very good organisation, so we have to play at our best level, but I think we are at a time when we can play at our best level, because we are confident and have come out of a challenging last match against Japan.”
The challenge grows with the loss of Lucas Paqueta. The midfielder, so important between the lines, suffered a hamstring injury against Japan and is ruled out. His absence robs Brazil of a key link between midfield and attack. The good news for Ancelotti is that Raphinha could return after a thigh issue, offering width and incision from the right if he is deemed fit enough to start.
All eyes will naturally drift to the battle in the middle: Haaland versus Brazil’s imposing centre-back pairing of Gabriel Magalhaes and Marquinhos. Premier League familiarity, Champions League pedigree, and a striker who lives for this kind of stage.
Stale Solbakken, though, is every bit as keen as Ancelotti to drag the narrative back to the collective.
“Brazil has one of the best pairs of defenders in this tournament, two players who are at a top-notch international level,” the Norway coach said. “There will be some tough duels between them and Erling, but it is more Brazil versus Norway for me.”
He knows the odds. He embraces them.
“Brazil are favourites, of course they are, but we are hopeful that we will give them a match – and we must be at our very, very best, otherwise we don’t have a chance.”
Norway’s preparation has not been entirely smooth either. Dortmund full-back Julian Ryerson is expected to be available after a thigh problem forced him off in their second Group I game against Senegal, a boost for Solbakken’s defensive balance and attacking thrust down the flank. Defender Holmgren Pedersen, meanwhile, is being monitored after some “coughing and rasping”, a minor concern but one that could still influence the final team sheet.
The stakes are clear. Win, and a quarter-final against either England or co-hosts Mexico awaits. Lose, and the dream ends under the New Jersey lights.
Ancelotti won’t rip up his playbook for one man. Solbakken won’t let his team be reduced to one name. Somewhere between Haaland’s penalty area menace and Brazil’s belief they are “at a time when we can play at our best level”, this tie will tilt.
On a night like this, organisation and structure matter. But one lapse, one duel lost, one flash of brilliance could decide who keeps their World Cup alive.
