Brazil vs England: Why Ancelotti has ripped up his World Cup squad

Brazil and England have taken dramatically different approaches to the beginning of the 2030 World Cup cycle, with Carlo Ancelotti retaining just 10 members of his 2026 squad while Thomas Tuchel has largely kept faith with the players who helped the Three Lions finish third.

The contrast is striking ahead of the first international window since the tournament in North America.

Only 10 of the 26 players originally selected by Ancelotti for Brazil's friendlies against Australia and India were part of their World Cup squad.

Eight players received first senior call-ups, while the average age of the group has fallen to 24.9 - almost four years younger than the squad taken to the World Cup.

England have chosen a far less radical route.

Tuchel's original 27-man selection contained 17 members of the squad that travelled to the World Cup, meaning almost two-thirds of his tournament group remain involved at the beginning of the new cycle.

That difference does not simply reflect two coaches with opposing philosophies.

Their World Cup results gave them very different reasons to change.

Brazil's World Cup exit has accelerated Ancelotti rebuild

Brazil's campaign ended with a last-16 defeat to Norway, their worst World Cup performance since they were eliminated at the same stage by Argentina in 1990.

It also extended a more troubling sequence.

The five-time world champions have now gone 24 years without eliminating European opposition from a World Cup knockout match, suffering six successive defeats against UEFA nations during that period.

Ancelotti has responded with one of the most aggressive post-tournament rebuilds among the former world champions.

His first squad of the new cycle included eight senior newcomers and 10 players based in Brazil, three more than were selected for the World Cup.

Only 38.5% of his original squad were World Cup returnees.

By comparison, Spain retained 22 players from their triumphant squad, Argentina kept 20, Uruguay 18 and France 15.

Ancelotti explained when naming his group that he wanted balance between players who could remain important from the previous cycle and younger options capable of becoming part of Brazil's future.

There is still significant experience.

Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Endrick, Gabriel Magalhaes and Bruno Guimaraes are among those retained, but the supporting cast has changed substantially.

The Premier League remains influential despite that overhaul.

Gabriel represents Arsenal, Jair was selected from Nottingham Forest, Vitor Reis is at Manchester City and Andrey Santos plays for Manchester United, while Chelsea attackers Estevao and Joao Pedro were also included in the original selection before the latter withdrew through injury.

Bournemouth forward Rayan is another of the English-based players in Ancelotti's plans.

The rebuild therefore represents a change of generation more than a retreat from European-based talent.

Tuchel retains England core after third-place finish

England entered the new cycle from a very different position.

Tuchel's side reached the World Cup semi-finals before finishing third with a 6-4 win over France, giving the German far less reason to dismantle the group that competed in North America.

Seventeen World Cup players were retained in the original squad for the Nations League fixtures against Spain, Czechia and Croatia.

Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Marc Guehi and Jordan Pickford remain part of the core, while Tuchel has also been able to bring established players back into the picture.

Trent Alexander-Arnold returned after more than a year away from the national team, while Cole Palmer was initially recalled after missing the World Cup.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lewis Hall, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Jarrad Branthwaite were among the other players brought back or given renewed opportunities.

Subsequent injury withdrawals have altered the group - Palmer, Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento were among those forced out - but they do not change the logic behind Tuchel's original selection.

England are refreshing rather than rebuilding.

Their average squad age has also fallen, from 26.6 at the World Cup to around 25.3, but that reduction has been achieved without removing the majority of the tournament core.

Brazil have effectively taken the opposite route.

Ancelotti has used the disappointment of 2026 to open places across almost every area of the squad, while Tuchel is attempting to develop a team that came within one match of another World Cup final.

Both countries have begun looking towards 2030.

For Brazil, however, the first step has been to decide that much less of 2026 should come with them.