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

Five-time World Cup champions Brazil conclude their preparations for this summer’s tournament with a warm-up fixture against Egypt at Huntington Bank Field in Ohio on Saturday.

The South American giants prevailed in their last meeting with their African counterparts in November 2011, winning a friendly 2-0 courtesy of two goals from Jonas.

Match preview

Brazil made history when they appointed legendary head coach Carlo Ancelotti as the national team’s first ever foreign boss in May 2025, and the 66-year-old Italian is tasked with steering the Selecao to their first World Cup triumph since 2002.

Ranked sixth in the world by FIFA, Brazil are the most decorated nation in World Cup history, winning a record five titles and holding the unique distinction of appearing in every single edition since the inaugural 1930 tournament. However, they have crashed out at the quarter-final stage in four of the last five iterations.

While a bumpy CONMEBOL qualification campaign raised eyebrows - finishing fifth in the 10-team standings after winning only eight of their 18 matches (D4 L6) - Brazil remain a primary heavyweight contender to go the distance at this summer’s tournament and memories of their iconic 1994 triumph in the United States keep expectations sky-high.

Ancelotti has overseen defeats to Japan (3-2) and France (2-1) since October 2025, as well as a 1-1 draw with Tunisia, but the Selecao have scored nine goals across their last two friendlies against Croatia and Panama, winning 3-1 against the former in April and 6-2 against the latter last Sunday.

Six different players were on the scoresheet against Panama, and Ancelotti will hope for a similarly emphatic display against Egypt before he prepares his team for Group C fixtures against Morocco, Scotland and Haiti at the World Cup.

Having previously participated at the 1934, 1990 and 2018 World Cups, Egypt are preparing for just their fourth appearance at the global tournament and will endeavour to break new ground by advancing beyond the group stage for the first time this summer.

The Pharaohs punched their ticket to North America after winning eight and drawing two of their 10 CAF qualification games to top the six-team group. Their successful campaign was built on a prolific attack, scoring 20 goals, and a stubborn defence that conceded only two goals.

Head coach Hossam Hassan boasts a 70% win ratio since taking the reins of the national team in February 2024 (W21 D6 L3). One of the three defeats he has suffered came in January when Egypt were beaten 1-0 by Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals.

A penalty-shootout loss to Nigeria in the third-placed playoff soon followed, but Egypt have since put together a three-game unbeaten run in friendly fixtures, including a comfortable 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia and a notable 0-0 draw with European champions Spain during March’s international break.

Egypt kept a fourth successive clean sheet when they beat Russia by a slender 1-0 scoreline last Thursday, and they will aim to end their World Cup preparations on a positive note when they face Brazil, before shifting their focus to Group G encounters with Belgium, Iran and New Zealand.

Brazil form (all competitions):

Egypt form (all competitions):

Team News

Brazil’s all-time record goalscorer Neymar will not be involved this weekend, as he is still recovering from a grade two calf injury that makes him a doubt for their World Cup opener against Morocco on June 13.

After participating in the Champions League final last weekend and then missing Brazil’s win over Panama, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli all reported for training earlier this week and are in contention to feature in some capacity on Saturday.

Ancelotti used 22 different players in the win against Panama, selecting two completely different lineups for both halves, and he may opt for the same approach on Saturday, with the likes of Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Casemiro, Bruno Guimaraes and Alisson Becker all available to play.

As for Egypt, they came through their win over Russia unscathed, and like Ancelotti, Hassan is expected to manage the minutes of his players in order to keep them fresh for the World Cup.

Departing Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah was not involved in the win against Russia, but the Pharaohs captain is expected to feature against Brazil and could play in attack alongside Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush.

Eighteen-year-old Barcelona B forward Hamza Abdelkarim made his senior international debut as a substitute last time out, and the highly-rated youngster will be pushing to make his full debut against Brazil.

Brazil possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Wesley, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Sandro; Casemiro, Guimaraes; Raphinha, Paqueta, Vinicius Jr; Thiago

Egypt possible starting lineup:

El Shenawy; Hany, Fathy, Ibrahim, Fotouh; Lasheen, Ateya; Salah, Ashour, Trezeguet; Marmoush

We say: Brazil 3-1 Egypt

The fact that Brazil have conceded in six of their last eight international matches should provide Egypt with confidence in breaching their backline on Saturday, especially if star attackers Salah and Marmoush are heavily involved.

However, Brazil have a plethora of attacking players of their own and Ancelotti has recently implemented a high-scoring, fluid system that should have few problems outscoring the Pharaohs in Ohio.

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