The road to the 2027 World Cup is long and winding for all teams hoping to qualify – apart from the hosts, Brazil. Having won their ninth Copa América Femenina in the summer, their next major tournament will be the World Cup in 20 months.

That may seem like a long time but the head coach, Arthur Elias, is aware that every minute of preparation counts, starting with their friendlies against England in Manchester on Saturday and then Italy in Parma on Tuesday.

By facing European opposition, Elias hopes his players will be able to test themselves in different conditions and against different playing styles to those most of them experience back home. It is also an opportunity to test themselves against one of the best teams in the world. “These games are really important for us to see how we behave collectively when facing different teams with different styles,” he said at the squad announcement. “We are at a stage where we are consolidating our team identity.

“We’re playing against two great European teams. England have won the past two Euros and Italy reached the semis last time around and played really well. We have taken that into account when we selected this squad. We want to give opportunities to younger payers. Our average age is now 24 years old, which we think is ideal when looking ahead to 2027.”

Elias does not have all his key players available. He was expecting to be without Real Madrid’s Antônia and Manchester City’s Kerolin because of injuries but since the squad announcement he has also lost Atlético Madrid’s Gio Garbelini and her replacement, Debinha of KC Current. São Paulo’s 22-year-old forward Isabelle Caroline has been called up.

Arthur Elias led his side to a 2-1 victory over the United States in April after a stoppage time winner. It was Brazil’s first win over the Americans in 11 years. Photograph: Erin Chang/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF

Elias received international recognition in 2024 when he took Brazil to a silver medal at the Paris Olympics and was one of three finalists for The Best Fifa Women’s coach, finishing only behind England’s Sarina Wiegman and Barcelona’s Jonatan Giráldez.

Since their achievement at the Olympics, Brazilian players have had more visibility abroad with record transfers to the NWSL as well as European leagues. The 24-year-old Isabela Chagas may make her senior national team debut against England after completing a €300,000 (£260,000) move from Cruzeiro to Paris Saint-Germain, a record sale for the Brazilian team.

The trajectory is clearly upwards but the game against the Lionesses at the Etihad Stadium will be a challenge. “England are a team we studied quite well, and will test us at the highest level,” Elias says. “They will test our attack, since they have a good, compact defence, and we will need to worry about the quality of their attacking players. Having said that, they will have to deal with our quality too.”

The last time the two teams faced each other was in 2023 for the inaugural Women’s Finalissima – between the Copa América and Euro champions – with England winning on penalties after a pulsating 1-1 draw. Back then, Brazil were coached by Pia Sundhage who liked to play with a back five.

Kerolin, seen here evading a challenge from Ella Toone during the 2023 Women’s Finalissima match, will miss Brazil’s return to England after picking up an injury last month. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Expect a more proactive attacking approach under Elias. His teams may vary in style but they consistently look to get on the front foot. It can leave them exposed, though, as happened in the Copa América final against Colombia, where they scored four but conceded as many and needed penalties to secure the win. “England and Italy have very different styles,” he says “and facing them in such a short period of time is a challenge. We will need, in one training session, to put a different system in place, with different players’ characteristics, so we can win both games.”

At the moment, with 20 months still to go before a home World Cup, Elias’s plan is to test his team as much as possible. He wants to consolidate a squad, but also create options for the future of the Brazilian national team. “We have made 10 changes to the team that just won the Copa América. I believe that is a good place to be for our preparation for 2027.”

Talking points

A new start: The first South American Women’s Nations League begins on Friday. The qualifying for the 2027 World Cup will see two teams secure their places at the tournament with two more through to the intercontinental playoffs. Running until June, the Women’s Nations League features all South American national teams apart from Brazil. The opening round sees Colombia face Peru, Bolivia meet Ecuador, Venezuela take on Chile and Argentina play Paraguay.

Football Manager: The popular video game will now include women’s football leagues as options. Football Manager 26, releasing next month, will feature 14 women’s leagues worldwide – a move that Tina Keech, who leads the development of women’s football metrics for the game, hopes will attract more female players. “It’s actually just enhancing the game and making it a good experience, a different experience,” she told AFP. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Fourteen women’s leagues will feature in Football Manager 26.Footage from Football Manager 26.

Big plans: The United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica have submitted a joint bid to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup. The four-nation Concacaf proposal aims to build on the growing momentum of women’s football, “inspiring future generations of players and fans across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean,” said the Concacaf president, Victor Montagliani. The hosts for the 2031 and 2035 editions of the tournament will be announced in April at the Fifa Congress in Vancouver with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales the sole bidders for the latter.

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“In the end, I just felt that I wouldn’t be able to commit to the cycles as much as I have in the past, and that’s not who I am. If I commit to something, I like to commit to it full throttle, and I just felt I couldn’t really do that, so I knew it was the right time to walk away. It’s time for the new group to take Wales forward, and when you put that all together, it really was an easy decision” – Jess Fishlock to the BBC about her decision to retire from international football.

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