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

A possible precursor to the 2026 World Cup final, Brazil and France continue their preparations for the upcoming Mundial with a blockbuster friendly at the Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts on Thursday.

The Selecao will also pit their wits against Croatia during their short stopover in the United States, while Didier Deschamps's crop also have another exhibition contest with Colombia to look ahead to.

Match preview

Compared to their colleagues from Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa, Brazil have little distance to travel for the next quadrennial global gathering, albeit one which they made hard work of qualifying for.

Both before and after the Carlo Ancelotti reign commenced, the five-time World Cup winners often flattered to deceive during the preliminary process and could only muster a fifth-placed finish in CONMEBOL qualifying, below all of Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia and Uruguay.

The gap between fifth-placed Brazil and second-placed Ecuador read just one point by the close of play, but the Selecao have struggled to reassert their international dominance since, winning just two of their last five friendly and non-friendly matches.

Bolivia and Japan both got the better of Ancelotti's crop late last year, although the November break proved to be a more fruitful one for Brazil, who overcame Senegal 2-0 before a 1-1 stalemate with Tunisia in Lille.

Morocco, Haiti and Scotland await Ancelotti's men in an intriguing World Cup Group C, which if the Selecao emerge triumphant in, they could be on the path to a showpiece match with Thursday's Foxborough foes.

Experiencing no such setbacks in their pursuit of a customary World Cup place, France - about to enter their final major tournament under Deschamps - dropped just two points en route to a straightforward first-placed finish in UEFA Group D.

Already one of just three men to have won the World Cup as both a player and manager - and the only living one following Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo's deaths - Deschamps will lead Les Bleus into transatlantic battle before handing the reins over to Zinedine Zidane.

The Real Madrid icon has reportedly reached a verbal agreement to become the new manager of France - a job he had been holding out for ever since his second Blancos exit in 2021 - but not before Les Bleus scrap with Senegal, Norway and an as yet unknown playoff winner in World Cup Group I.

France concluded their near-flawless qualifying competition with a 4-0 battering of Ukraine and 3-1 success over Azerbaijan in November, extending their unbeaten run to seven matches in all tournaments, a streak that includes six wins since their Nations League semi-final loss to Spain.

However, nothing can separate France and Brazil in the head-to-head standings, where both nations boast six wins against the other, but the Selecao came out on top in the most recent clash - a 2015 friendly at the Stade France.

Brazil friendly form:

Brazil form (all competitions):

France friendly form:

France form (all competitions):

Team News

Defensive withdrawals have already plagued Brazil boss Ancelotti this month, as Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes, Liverpool's Alisson Becker and veteran left-back Alex Sandro - now representing Flamengo - have all pulled out of the squad.

Neymar's omission was by choice rather than force, though, as Ancelotti snubbed Brazil's all-time leading scorer in favour of uncapped duo Igor Thiago and Rayan, setting the Premier League alight with Brentford and Bournemouth respectively.

Thiago and Rayan have the stiffest of stiff competition for attacking starts, though, as Matheus Cunha, Vinicius Junior, Raphinha and Joao Pedro are all competing for precious pre-World Cup minutes too.

A Gabriel-less Brazil will be meeting a William Saliba-less France, as Arsenal's other central defensive rock has dropped out of Deschamps's squad alongside Roma midfielder Manu Kone.

Barcelona's Jules Kounde will not be involved this month either owing to a hamstring issue, but Les Bleus are otherwise well-stocked for their USA adventure, where Kylian Mbappe will be chasing history.

The French skipper currently sits on 55 goals for the national team, just two shy of Olivier Giroud's all-time men's record of 57, which he will almost certainly break either before or during the World Cup.

Brazil possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Wesley, Bremer, Marquinhos, D. Santos; Raphinha, Casemiro, A. Santos, Vinicius Jr; Cunha, Pedro

France possible starting lineup:

Maignan; Gusto, Konate, Upamecano, T. Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Olise, Cherki, Mbappe; Dembele

We say: Brazil 1-3 France

Count out Ancelotti at your peril, but this Brazil side do not strike the same fear into the hearts of opposing teams as their predecessors from 25 years ago, and their results over the past 12 months show it.

Facing an in-form France with the most menacing of attacking options, we can only back Les Bleus to come up trumps and build more momentum before their World Cup challenge.

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