47 min Brazil barely blink an eye as they attack again from the restart but the Socceroos are banked up on the last line with the break now in sight.

The Socceroos and Brazil are in their kit and ready to walk on to the turf in Townsville. Here is a reminder of the starting XIs for each side.

Australia XI: Patrick Beach (gk); Jacob Italiano, Alessandro Circati, Harry Souttar (capt), Lucas Herrington, Aziz Behich; Jackson Irvine, Paul Okon-Engstler, Connor Metcalfe; Nestory Irankunda, Tete Yengi.

Brazil XI: Hugo Souza (gk); Douglas Santos, Vitor Reis, Marquinhos, Matheuzinho; Bruno Guimaraes, Danilo Santos; Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Estevao, Endrick.

Tony Popovic tends to play his cards much closer to his chest. But the Socceroos head coach gives a little insight into his selections while speaking with Paramount+.

double quotation mark Very honoured and proud to be in this position [playing Brazil]. I enjoyed it as a player thoroughly, enjoying it as a coach, and as I did at the World Cup and tonight, we have a huge challenge against one the world’s best.

We [Carlo Ancelotti] have caught up a few days ago in Brisbane. He’s just a fantastic man and obviously one of the world’s greatest managers. He’s done so much in his career and won so many titles I’m sure he doesn’t have enough room at home with all the trophies he’s won. So it’ll an honour and a pleasure to share the pitch with him.

We’ve got some youngsters in the front third that have done well with their clubs or moved to clubs overseas. So we feel there’s a good opportunity to a look at their growth and development. And it doesn’t any better than experimenting with the players against Brazil.

[Mo Touré’s injury] just gives someone else an opportunity. I think we’ve dealt with this since I’ve been at this job. We’ve got Jordy Bos out as well. We’ve got Cam Burgess out. We’ve got Christian Volpato out. It’s something we’ve dealt with before. But it’s an opportunity for someone else to take the opportunity and become successful.

Seleção: Hugo Souza (gk); Douglas Santos, Vitor Reis, Marquinhos, Matheuzinho; Bruno Guimaraes, Danilo Santos; Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Estevao, Endrick.

Carlo Ancelotti sticks with the starting XI as promised in his press conference yesterday. No need to hold the cards close to your chest when you have these attacking weapons to put on show. There are two debutants in Corinthians full-back Matheuzinho and Manchester City defender Vitor Reis. Only four players remain from the Brazil side that lost to Norway in the round of 16 at the World Cup.

Socceroos: Patrick Beach (gk), Jacob Italiano, Alessandro Circati, Harry Souttar (capt), Lucas Herrington, Aziz Behich, Jackson Irvine, Paul Okon-Engstler, Connor Metcalfe, Nestory Irankunda, Tete Yengi.

Harry Souttar takes the captain’s armband with Maty Ryan left out of the squad and will start with young centre-backs Alessandro Circati and Lucas Herrington alongside him in the defence. Tete Yengi earns his second Socceroos start as Tony Popovic names a strong starting XI.

Joey Lynch is in Townsville tonight to report on the game and has already taken in Brazil’s unlikely visit to the north Queensland town with a population of just over 200,000 as the place to begin their regeneration after another World Cup failure.

double quotation mark A legacy of more World Cup titles than any other nation demands respect, as does the aura of a shirt worn by the likes of Pelé, Socrates, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Neymar. Vinícius, Raphinha, Marquinhos et al are global superstars, and the cultural cachet of joga bonito still permeates. So too are the good vibes, good people and goodwill that accompany them; a Brazilian supporter with a prop World Cup trophy in hand was among those navigating the connection to Townsville from Brisbane airport on Thursday morning. These fixtures, followed by a game against India on 3 October, are going to prove lucrative for the South Americans too. They’ll even be taking the field in Queensland as the official “home” side.

Which brings us to football. And to start, if Brazil are after a genuine Australian football experience they will get one at Lang Park in Brisbane next Tuesday, when they play on a surface only four days after the Dolphins v Roosters preliminary final. But coming off another World Cup failure, Brazil have also landed at an inflection point. Or perhaps more accurately, the latest inflection point, as the nation conducts a new round of soul-searching over an increasingly diminishing place among football’s elite.

Preamble

Martin Pegan

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the international football friendly between Australia and Brazil at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville.

The Socceroos and Seleção both return to action for the first time since the 2026 World Cup with this the first of two international friendlies between the teams to be played in Queensland over the next few days. This is also the first men’s A international to be held in Townsville while the second game in the series will be played on Tuesday at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Australia will use the friendlies to begin their preparations for the 2027 Asian Cup while the five-time world champions take their first steps to regenerate the squad after failing to meet expectations at the global showpiece a few months ago. The Socceroos were, in case I need to remind you, knocked out on penalties by Egypt in the round of 32. Brazil went one step further when they beat Japan 2-1 in the new knockout phase before losing by the same score to Norway in the round of 16.

Socceroos head coach Tony Popovic has called up a 25-player squad for the two-match series though striker Mohamed Toure has been forced out by injury along with Alex Robertson. On a more positive note, Riley McGree and Patrick Yazbek return after their untimely stint on the sidelines. Five players have been called up for the first time – goalkeeper Jacob Chapman, Kealey Adamson, Eli Adams, Yaya Dukuly and Marcus Younis. Kasey Bos – the younger brother of Jordy – and teenage defender Dylan Leonard are also in line for a debut.

Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti has turned to youth for the first international window since the World Cup, though Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior, Barcelona’s Raphinha, Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos and Arsenal duo Gabriel and Bruno Guimaraes are among the headline names to make the trip. Defenders Artur Dias (Athletico Paranaense) and Maurio Júnior (PSV Eindhoven) are among the new faces to look out for, along with Chelsea’s young attacker Estêvão.

Kick off in Townsville is 8pm AEST / 7am BRT / 11am BST. I’ll be back shortly with the starting line-ups and team news. But now is the time to hit me up with thoughts and predictions – shoot me an email, or find me on Bluesky @martinpegan.bsky.social. Let’s get into it!