‘Up until then, the team was in control’ - Ancelotti reveals what caused Brazil’s World Cup elimination

In their round-of-16 clash, Brazil suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss to Norway, ending their World Cup hopes.

The team was deadlocked at 0-0 with Norway before the second-half break changed the course of the game. 

Following the restart, they conceded two late goals from Erling Haaland, ultimately marking their earliest exit from a World Cup since 1990.

The mandatory three-minute cooling breaks, introduced by FIFA for this year's tournament, were often used by coaches as strategic timeouts. 

For Brazil, however, this pause proved to be their undoing, as Ancelotti blamed the hydration break.

"I think we lost the World Cup during the hydration break against Norway," Ancelotti explained to ESPN. "Why? Because, up until then, the team had been in control."

The Italian coach took responsibility for misreading the game's flow. "That's where my mistake may have been—thinking the team had lost control of the match when they hadn't," he admitted. 

"I made a few changes to the team, and then we had the problem with Erling Haaland's goal. And then, in a World Cup, when you concede a goal in the 75th minute, it's very difficult to come back from that."

Ancelotti's assessment contrasts with the view of FIFA's global football development chief, Arsène Wenger, who stated before the tournament's conclusion that the breaks did not disrupt the flow of play or influence match outcomes.

Despite the painful loss, Ancelotti gave credit to the Norwegian side, who reached their first-ever quarterfinal before being knocked out by England in a 2-1 extra-time defeat.

"It's also true that Norway had a lot of possession in their half; they played the same way against England," Ancelotti noted. "They controlled the game, and they could've won."