Eager to return to winning ways, heavyweights Brazil will host Colombia at the Arena BRB Mane Garrincha on Thursday, 20 March, in Gameweek 13 of the CONMEBOL 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Will the five-time world champions prevail? Read on to get all the key information as well as the prediction for the Latin American classic.
Brazil vs Colombia Preview: Build-Up
Brazil, the most successful footballing nation in the world, are greatly benefitting from the 2026 World Cup’s 48-team format.
The Selecao have been utterly disappointing in the CONMEBOL qualifiers so far, picking up a mere 18 points out of 36. Brazil’s lacklustre showings have seen them drop to fifth place in the rankings, putting them behind Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Colombia.
This would have put them out of automatic qualification had the World Cup still been a 32-team affair. But the expanded format is saving their skin, as the top six nations will qualify for next year’s main event.
🚨| Joao Pedro looks set to start for Brazil against Colombia on Friday.
He will play alongside Vinicius Jr, Raphinha and Rodrygo. #BHAFC
[via @ESPNBrasil] pic.twitter.com/Iisl0OlQjM— The Brighton Base (@TheBrightonBase) March 19, 2025
Dorival Junior’s side are coming into Thursday’s fixture on the back of consecutive 1-1 draws with Venezuela and Uruguay. These draws in November would have been catastrophic had they not beaten Peru and Chile in October.
Colombia, who sit just a point ahead of Brazil, also had a November to forget. The 2024 Copa America finalists suffered a 3-2 defeat to Uruguay on Matchday 11 before slipping to a 1-0 defeat at home against 10-man Ecuador.
Colombia manager Nestor Lorenzo went unbeaten in his first 25 matches but has suffered four defeats in the last seven. Los Cafeteros will be eager to improve their record by picking up their first win in Brazil after 14 failures.
Brazil vs Colombia Preview: Neymar’s Availability, Team News, Lineups, & H2H
Will Neymar Play Against Colombia?
Brazil’s all-time top scorer Neymar earned an international call-up after a 17-month hiatus. However, the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star will not be in action in the CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualifiers, as he has picked a muscle injury in the back of his thigh.
Neymar, who has not played for Brazil since October 2023, has been replaced with Real Madrid youngster Endrick.
Team News & Lineups
Brazil
In addition to Neymar, Brazil will be without Eder Militao, Bremer, Ederson, Richarlison, and Danilo, as none of them are fit to play. Lucas Paqueta, meanwhile, is not in Dorival’s squad.
Potential Lineup: Alisson; Vanderson, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Alex Sandro; Gerson, Guimaraes; Rodrygo, Raphinha, Vinicius Jr; Pedro
Colombia
Lorenzo, meanwhile, has all his top stars available for the mega meeting with the Canarinha.
Potential Lineup: Vargas; Munoz, Sanchez, Lucumi, Mojica; Lerma, Rios; Arias, James, Diaz; Duran
Head-to-Head
In the last 37 meetings between the two sides, Brazil have come out on top on 21 occasions. Colombia have won only four times while there have been 12 draws.
In their previous CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying meeting, however, Colombia came out on top, securing a 2-1 win in November 2023.
Brazil vs Colombia Prediction
Brazil have become mighty unpredictable in recent years, impressing in some games and completely missing the mark in others. It is hard to say which version will turn up on Thursday, but since they are playing at home, we are backing them to come out on top.
Our prediction: Brazil 2-1 Colombia
