The Selecao take another step towards the Copa America with a friendly against one of the guest teams
Eleven days out from the beginning of the Copa America, Brazil play host to Qatar, who will compete in the competition as a guest nation, in Brasilia.
Tite’s side have gone undefeated since crashing out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage to Belgium 11 months ago, recording seven wins and a draw, conceding only two goals along the way.
Meanwhile, Qatar, three years out from hosting the next global gathering, approach this encounter on a high after winning the AFC Asian Cup after a 3-1 win over Japan. They are on a seven-match win streak and have conceded only once.
Will logic hold out and Brazil claim the expected win, or will the Gulf state cause a monumental upset?
| Game | Brazil vs Qatar |
| Date | Wednesday, June 5 |
| Time | 1:30am BST / 8:30pm ET |
| Stream (US) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United States (US), the game can be watched on BeINSports and live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| beIN Sports / beIN Sports en Espanol | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will be broadcast on FreeSports TV.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| FreeSports TV | N/A |
Brazil had a high-profile injury scare as Neymar limped out of a recent training session with a knee problem, but the Paris Saint-Germain ace is fit to feature in this encounter.
CBF vice-president Francisco Noveletto has suggested personal issues could keep the striker from playing in the Copa America, however.
Vinicius Junior, Fabinho and Lucas Moura are among the high-profile players overlooked for the squad.
Having played in the Champions League final with Liverpool just a matter of days ago, this game will come too soon for Alisson and Roberto Firmino.
Possible Brazil starting XI: Ederson; Alves, Marquinhos, Miranda, Filipe Luis; Casemiro; Richarlison, Arthur, Coutinho, Neymar; Jesus
| Position | Qatar squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Al Sheeb, Hassan, Al-Bakri |
| Defenders | Hassan, Ismail, Ro-Ro, Ali Mukhtar, Al-Rawi, Salman, Al-Muhaza |
| Midfielders | Boudaif, Khoukhi, Hatem, Ali Afif, Fatehi, Al-Hajri, Moein, Al-Ahrak |
| Forwards | Al-Haydos, Akram Afif, Ali, Alaaeldin |
Qatar have named a young squad and are likely to expose these players to a match against one of the world’s very best teams.
Possible Qatar starting XI: Al Sheeb; Al Rawi, Khoukhi, Salman; Miguel, Al Haydos, Madibo, Hatim, Hassan; Afif, Ali
Brazil are unsurprisingly red-hot favourites to win this match with Bet365, priced 1/10. Qatar can be backed at 18/1, while a draw is available at 9/1.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Given Brazil’s rich footballing heritage, it is a country relatively starved of recent success. World Cup winners on five occasions, the last of these victories came in 2002, while they have failed to win any of the last five Copas America.
On home soil in 2019, they will aim to reprise the success they enjoyed in Venezuela back in 2007, which was their fourth victory in five editions.
Tite remains the man charged with leading them to glory, having pieced together a quietly effective run in Russia that ended only at the hands of a very capable Belgium team.
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The rebuilding process since then has been impressive, with a succession of victories gradually building momentum towards the Copa America, including a 3-1 success away in the Czech Republic in March.
Having trailed at the break in Prague, Roberto Firmino scored shortly after the restart before a late double from Gabriel Jesus gave them the win.
There was no Neymar on that occasion, with the Paris Saint-Germain ace laid up with a foot injury, and he has since been stripped of the captaincy by the coach, with the more experienced Dani Alves taking over.
With the burden of expectation on the 27-year-old already immense, it is a move designed to ease the pressure on the forward, who has scored 60 times in 96 international outings.
A strong showing against Qatar would help build his confidence, though the Asian champions, who will compete in the Copa America as a guest team, will be eager to show that they are well on track to being a competitive team for World Cup 2022, which they will host.
They boast an experienced squad which is entirely domestically based and very well drilled, as reflected by the fact they have conceded only once in their last seven internationals.
There are no household names in their ranks, although promising attacker Almoez Ali of Al-Duhail has 19 goals in 39 internationals and is the player Brazil will have to most closely police.
This is the start of an exciting period for Qatar, who will lock horns with Paraguay, Colombia and the superstars of Argentina in competitive action when the serious stuff starts in Brazil in little over a week.