Before Copa trip, Brazil bid farewell in Panama friendly on Sunday

Brazil National Team 's preparation for the friendly against Panama took place at Granja Comary Credits: Rafael Ribeiro/CBF

Brazil will face Panama in a friendly this Sunday (31) at 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. The match, at the most iconic venue in Brazilian football, will be the last before the trip to the United States for the World Cup and marks the Seleção's farewell to Brazilian fans.

The starting lineup was announced by Carlo Ancelotti at a press conference this Saturday (30): Alisson ; Wesley, Bremer, Léo Pereira and Alex Sandro ; Casemiro and Bruno Guimarães; Luiz Henrique , Matheus Cunha , Raphinha and Vini Jr. All preparations took place at Granja Comary in Teresópolis (Rio de Janeiro state), where head coach Carlo Ancelotti led four training sessions.

Of the 26 players called up for the World Cup, Ancelotti will have 22 available for the match. The Arsenal duo Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhães faced PSG 's Marquinhos in the Champions League final this Saturday (30) in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. The trio will only join the squad in the United States. Neymar , meanwhile, is out with a right calf injury.

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One of the 48 teams in the World Cup, Panama is ranked 33rd in the FIFA Men's World Ranking and is in Group L alongside England , Croatia and Ghana . This will be the country's second appearance at a World Cup. The first came in the 2018 edition in Russia, when they did not advance past the group stage.

This year, Panama has played four matches. In January, they drew 1-1 with Bolivia and were beaten 1-0 by Mexico . In March, they faced South Africa twice: they drew 1-1 and won 2-1.

Paquetá and Casemiro played in the last match between Brazil and Panama, in 2019, in Porto Credits: Lucas Figueiredo/CBF