Brazil face a tricky trip to Venezuela on Thursday in CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualifying, as Dorival Junior’s side aim to keep their good recent form going.
MORE — South America qualifying fixtures, table, hub
It was two wins from two in World Cup qualifiers in October for the Selecao, as they won at Chile late on and hammered Peru at home to move on to 16 points. They sit just inside the top six, which are South America’s automatic qualifying spots for the 2026 World Cup, and Vinicius Junior is back in the squad to lead them during this international break.
Venezuela had a great start to World Cup qualifying but are without a win in their last six. That said, they are the draw specialists with five draws from 10 games and grabbed a big point in Brazil in the reverse fixture in October 2023. Venezuela sit just five points behind Brazil and two points off the automatic qualifying spots with eight games to go.
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.
