Preview: Brazil vs Croatia - prediction, team news, lineups

Struggling to gather momentum ahead of their World Cup challenge, Brazil head to Orlando for Tuesday's international friendly with Croatia at the Camping World Stadium.

The Selecao's latest setback arrived in a 2-1 loss to fellow Mundial contenders France last time out, whereas Zlatko Dalic's in-form side took down Colombia 2-1 in their most recent friendly.

Match preview

Yet to weave his Real Madrid Champions League magic with the Brazil national team, Ancelotti is presiding over an alarming run of results with the five-time World Cup winners, who have earned just two victories from their last six games.

After ending a mixed Mundial qualifying campaign with a surprise 1-0 loss to Bolivia, Brazil have pummelled South Korea 5-0 and eased past Senegal 2-0 - which is more than can be said for England - but performances elsewhere have left a lot to be desired.

Tunisia stole a 1-1 draw off the Selecao, Japan shocked the five-time world champions 3-2 last autumn, and France most recently prevailed in Foxborough thanks to Hugo Ekitike and Kylian Mbappe's strikes.

There is little shame in losing to a nation with France's attacking arsenal, but for a Brazil side with ambitions of conquering the globe for the first time since 2002, failure to beat the best begs the question whether they can be the best.

There were shades of Ancelotti's debut in Brazil's reverse to France, and not in a good way - a negative omen before the South American titans prepare to face one of the most in-form national teams on the planet.

The bridesmaids but never the brides at recent World Cups and the 2022-23 Nations League, Croatia have started 2026 as they ended a near-flawless 2025, offering hope of another dark-horse run at the quadrennial gathering.

Long-serving head coach Zlatko Dalic oversaw seven wins and one draw in the Chequered Ones' eight final fixtures of 2025, before masterminding a 2-1 comeback success over Colombia in Orlando, as Luka Vuskovic and Igor Matanovic cancelled out Jhon Arias's second-minute opener.

While 40-year-old Luka Modric - still pulling the strings for AC Milan - is at the twilight of his career, 19-year-old Hamburg defender Vuskovic is seeing his value skyrocket by the month, a rare positive in an otherwise disastrous season for parent club Tottenham Hotspur.

Croatia are now on the hunt for a fifth straight victory and also come into Tuesday's friendly having scored at least twice in each of their last four games, albeit against some lesser opposition in Montenegro, the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar.

The European outfit have also never got the better of Brazil in 90 minutes, but their most recent showdown at the 2022 World Cup ended in delight for Dalic and turmoil for Tite, as Croatia prevailed on penalties to reach the semi-finals.

Brazil International Friendlies form:

Brazil form (all competitions):

Croatia International Friendlies form:

Croatia form (all competitions):

Team News

Brazil's efforts against France were hampered by an injury to key attacker Raphinha, who came off at half time with a hamstring problem and is now expected to spend around five weeks on the sidelines.

The former Leeds United winger is one of three new fitness concerns for Ancelotti to deal with, as Roma right-back Wesley has also been sent home with a thigh issue, while Vinicius Jr is a doubt for the midweek game due to muscular fatigue.

On a brighter note, skipper Marquinhos - absent entirely from the France defeat - has resumed training after a hip injury and is in contention to win his 104th cap for the national team on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Croatia lost backup goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski to injury before the Colombia victory, but Dalic's squad is otherwise completely healthy at the time of writing.

Coming off the bench to win his 195th cap for the national team last time out, Modric now ought to be restored to the first XI, as the Real Madrid icon sports the armband against his erstwhile manager.

Fellow veteran Andrej Kramaric - enjoying a terrific season with Bundesliga high-flyers Hoffenheim - is expected to come back in too, potentially in place of Nikola Vlasic.

Brazil possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Ibanez, Bremer, Marquinhos, D. Santos; Henrique, A. Santos, Casemiro, Martinelli; Cunha, Pedro

Croatia possible starting lineup:

Livakovic; Erlic, Vuskovic, Pongracic; Stanisic, Modric, P. Sucic, Perisic; Mario Pasalic, Kramaric, Baturina

We say: Brazil 1-1 Croatia

With no Raphinha, potentially no Vinicius and no momentum behind them, Ancelotti's Brazil are in for a rough ride against a settled and morale-boosted Croatia outfit.

Dalic's men have faced some smaller nations in their recent winning sequence, though, so a low-scoring draw appears the most viable outcome here.

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