Carlo Ancelotti is leaving Brazil’s penalty order to the last possible moment as the team prepares for a possible shootout against Japan in the World Cup round of 16. He says the choice will depend on the players’ psychological state, not just on habit or reputation.
That approach matters now because Brazil wants to settle qualification within 90 minutes on Monday, but it is still rehearsing the one scenario it hopes to avoid. The team has been working on penalties since the first week of preparation at Granja Comary in Teresópolos, and Ancelotti has been watching who finishes best in practice before deciding who should step up.
The method is a direct answer to Brazil’s recent pain from the spot. The team lost its two most recent shootouts against Croatia and Uruguay, and those failures turned the order of penalty takers into a live issue rather than a routine choice. Tite later said he was wrong not to make Neymar the first taker in Qatar, while Neymar never reached the ball because Brazil was beaten before the last kick. Dorival Júnior also drew criticism for not being inside the players’ discussion circle before the penalties.
Ancelotti’s own example shows how he thinks about the decision. In March 2025, during a round of 16 match against Atlético de Madrid in the Champions League, he did not use Endrick for one of the penalty attempts. After that match, he said there were doubts about the fifth taker, but after seeing Endrick’s face, he and his staff decided Rüdiger should go instead. He added that Rüdiger was colder. In other words, the choice is not only about technique. It is about which player can absorb the moment when the match tightens and the pressure rises.
That is the friction Brazil is carrying into Monday. The team wants the game settled before penalties become necessary, yet Ancelotti is already preparing to make the final call only moments before the kicks. If the match against Japan does reach a shootout, Endrick’s expression in March may matter less than whatever state the players show in the instant before the whistle.
