“There will still be mistakes,” tempers Marquinhos after Brazil’s poor results

Five-time World Cup winners Brazil have struggled to impress in South American qualifying for the 2026 tournament, but defender Marquinhos has called on fans to stay loyal to the team ahead of the team's home game Tuesday against Uruguay.

With a run of five wins, four defeats and two draws, Brazil is fourth in the standings with 17 points, five points behind leader Argentina, with the top six automatically qualifying for the World Cup in North America. Uruguay is second with 19 points.

Pride

Brazil were held to a 1-1 draw in Venezuela on Thursday, with Vinicius Jr seeing a penalty saved late in the match. Stand-in captain Marquinhos said the players were always proud to play for the jersey, even when results didn't go their way. Marquinhos said the players were always proud to play in the Brazilian jersey, even if the results were not there.

Brazil, who were beaten by Uruguay in Montevideo last year, are in a transition phase under the leadership of Dorival Junior and it will take time to iron out the difficulties, he added. “There will still be mistakes because the transition is still very recent, with all these changes of players and teams”said Marquinhos, who replaces captain Danilo. “But we will make fewer and fewer mistakes and that’s what makes us happy”.

“We don't worry too much about the ranking as long as we are in a comfortable position. We want to win to progress in the ranking, to work better and to gain confidence”. Brazil goes into Tuesday's match without a large number of top players, with defender Eder Militao and forwards Neymar and Rodrygo notably missing due to injury.