Brazil couldn’t find a second goal in Maturin despite a late red card to Venezuela in a 1-1 CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying draw on Thursday.
Raphinha scored late in the first half but was answered by Telasco Segovia out of the halftime break, and Venezuela weathered an 89th-minute red card to Alexander Gonzalez and picked up a big point.
MORE — South America qualifying fixtures, table, hub
Brazil miss a chance to close ground on table leaders Argentina, but what really matters is a top-six spot. Brazil’s 17 points are five more than seventh-place Venezuela. La Vinotinto would qualify for the interconfederation playoffs if qualifying ended today.
Brazil held 67% possession but edged shots by 13-12 as Fernando Batista’s visitors manufactured plenty of big chances and deserved their draw.
Raphinha, 27, is in world-class form for club and country. He’s scored 12 times with 10 assists in 17 matches across all competitions for Barcelona, scoring thrice in his last two appearances for Brazil in what’s early Ballon d’Or candidate form.
Venezuela go to Chile on Tuesday for their next qualifier, while Brazil hosts Uruguay in a seismic tilt that would leave a winner in excellent shape for the 2026 World Cup in North America.
How to watch Venezuela vs Brazil live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 4pm ET Thursday (November 14)
Venue: Estadio Monumental de Maturin
Stream link: Fanatiz USA
Venezuela team news, focus
Along with Bolivia, La Vinotinto were seen as the big underdogs in World Cup qualifying but both are doing really well and hanging in there in the race for automatic qualification. Reaching the Copa America quarterfinals in the summer was a big achievement, as they only lost to Canada on penalty kicks. Salomon Rondon is still leading the line for Venezuela as their all-time top goalscorer is 35 years old but popped up with a big goal in an unexpected draw at Argentina last month. Another player to look out for is Yangel Herrera of Girona, while skipper Tomas Rincon will hold things down in midfield and is one of several Venezuelan players who play their club football in Brazil.
Brazil team news, focus
Vinicius Junior is back for this international break which is a huge bonus but his Real Madrid teammate Rodrygo is missing through injury. There will be a lot of focus on in-form Barcelona star Raphinha to be the difference in attack, while this Premier League-heavy Brazil squad has nine players from England’s top-flight with Ederson, Gabriel, Lucas Paqueta, Bruno Guimaraes and Savinho all set to be important in this window. Liverpool’s Alisson is still out through injury, while Eder Militao suffered a season-ending knee injury for Real Madrid in a big blow for club and country. Brazil have a really tough run of games coming up in World Cup qualifying after this one, so they need to take care of business and get three points in Venezuela.
Venezuela vs Brazil prediction
Brazil have hardly been free-scoring throughout qualifying but with Vinicius Junior back and Raphinha in fine form, expect them to get the job done against a tough, well-organized Venezuela. But it will be tight. Venezuela 1-2 Brazil.
