After a series of twists and turns, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has officially hired coach Carlo Ancelotti. The decorated Italian will be the fourth foreign coach to take charge of Brazil’s national team.
Brazil has had 53 different coaches throughout history, 19 of which were interim and 34 permanent. Despite only three of those being foreign, the clamour for a non-Brazilian to lead the national team has grown based on recent good results for foreign coaches in Brazilian football and the failure of natives at the helm of the Selecao.
Here, The Sporting News looks at the record of those before Ancelotti, who faces immediate pressure to ensure qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
MORE: What went wrong for Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid this season
Foreign coaches to take charge of Brazil national team
Ancelotti will be the fourth foreign coach to be appointed to the helm of the Brazil men’s team, and the second from outside South America.
- Ramon Platero (Uruguayan) — 1925
- Joreca (Portuguese) — 1944
- Filpo Nunez (Argentinian) — 1965
- Carlo Ancelotti (Italian) — 2025
Ramon Platero (1925)
Born in the small town of Canelones in southern Uruguay, Ramon Platero was the coach of Flamengo, Vasco da Gama, Palestra Italia (now Palmeiras), and Sao Paulo. Before moving to Brazil, he also coached the Uruguay national team between 1917, and 1919.
He oversaw Vasco’s promotion to the first division of the Campeonato Carioca in 1923, and his prominence in football around Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo earned him the job with the national team. In 1925, he took charge of Brazil for the South American Football Championship, finishing second in the competition with two wins, one draw and one defeat. Argentina won the title.
Joreca (1944)
Portuguese coach Joreca was born in Lisbon in 1904 but soon moved to Brazil. He earned a physical education qualification and was a referee and a journalist until taking over as Sao Paulo coach in 1943.
A year later, he coached Brazil for two games against Uruguay, in which they claimed 6-1 and 4-0 victories. At the time, he shared the job with Flavio Costa from Minas Gerais.
At Sao Paulo, Joreca was a three-time Paulistao champion (1943, 1945 and 1947) and then took over at Corinthians in 1949, where he lasted just a few months.
Filpo Nunez (1965)
The only Argentina to coach the Brazil national team in history, Filpo Nunez built a solid career with mid-sized teams in the South American continent before arriving in Brazilian football.
His first club there was Sao Bento-RS, in 1955. He went on to spend more than four decades in the country, notably at Portuguesa Santista, Corinthians, and Palmeiras.
Filpo coaches Brazil when Palmeiras, his club side, represented the national team in a friendly match against Uruguay in 1965. On that occasion — the first official international game at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte — Brazil won 3-0 through goals from Rinaldo, Tupazinho and Germano.
Carlo Ancelotti (2025 — ?)
Announced by the CBF as the new Brazil boss on May 12, 2025, Carlo Ancelotti is considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of world football.
Brazil will be the first national team on the Italian’s resume. He represented the Azzurri in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups as a player, having missed out on the 1982 tournament due to injury, but he has yet to take his coaching career to the international stage.
Ancelotti’s most notable coaching roles have been with AC Milan and Real Madrid. He won five UEFA Champions League titles across both clubs, the most of any manager in history.
