Is Carlo Ancelotti an ambitious man? The Italian leans back and smiles. “Me? I’m not ambitious. Why? Why are you asking that?” The reason for the question is simple: the 66-year-old is one of the most successful managers ever, with five Champions League wins and league titles in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. But he still wants more. Last May he was appointed Brazil head coach with one objective: to win the World Cup.

“I’m not obsessed with winning,” Ancelotti says. “What I have is a passion for enjoying the moments that football has given me. I’m not obsessed with winning the World Cup, but I have the pleasure and passion to enjoy the moment I’m living in, leading the most important national team in the world.”

Having played in the World Cup, this is the first time Ancelotti will take charge of a team at the tournament. His task is to put Brazil back on top of the world and break a drought that goes back to 2002, which equals the longest period the nation has gone without winning the World Cup since the lean period from 1970 to 1994. Ancelotti does not seem fazed though and one of the reasons is his passion for the sport. He may have had 47 years at the very top – 16 as a player and 31 as a head coach – but what is striking during our long interview is that he has lost none of his enthusiasm for his job. He is here because he is in love with football.

“I couldn’t live without football,” he says. “If I’m no longer on the pitch, I’ll be there as a fan watching the match. For me, watching a match on the TV isn’t work. It’s a pleasure. I really love cinema. For me, football is like the pleasure of watching a film. It’s the same feeling. The day I stop working in football, I’ll still watch in the same way, without any problem.”

Many players consider Ancelotti to be the best coach they have worked with; Kaká, Toni Kroos, Gareth Bale and Vinícius Júnior to name a few. So what makes him so special? “I really don’t know,” he says with a laugh. “Maybe it’s my attitude, the way I behave towards the players, the respect I show them as people. I place great value on building those personal relationships.”

“A manager’s job is very difficult because you have to manage so many things. There’s the relationship with the players, with the club, with the press, with the fans. There are so many aspects of this job that you have to manage. The most challenging of those is the relationship with people – and it’s also the most important.”

Despite all the trophies he has won, Ancelotti is at times dismissed as a “man-management coach”, someone who is successful because he is good with people but perhaps not with tactics. He pays no attention to those claims. “I don’t win titles just because of my relationship with the players,” he says. “The [good] relationships I have with players help because it allows you to get the most out of the player. Sometimes even more than the maximum. But that is just one part of the game. It doesn’t matter to me whether people say I am or I am not a good tactician. All I can say is that I know all aspects of the game very well.”

Ancelotti will extend his contract with Brazil until the 2030 World Cup, by which time he will be 70. The oldest manager in the Premier League is David Moyes at 63. In Brazil’s top flight, only three incumbents are into their seventh decade and all of them are younger than Ancelotti. “Football continues to change,” he says. “I try to adapt to what’s happening. Football today is more analytical, much more intense, more physical. Some tactics, particularly defensive ones, aren’t as important today as they were 10 years ago. The new generation of coaches focus more on attacking play than on defence.”

Despite only being in charge of Brazil for a short time, Ancelotti believes he has a good feel for the nation and its footballers, having worked with more than 40 of them throughout his career. That experience played a part in Ancelotti getting the job. “I really like the Brazilian spirit,” he says. “Brazilians have a special love for the yellow jersey. This special love for the national team is very much a Brazilian trait. In other countries, the national team isn’t as important as it is in Brazil.

“Brazil has preserved its own culture. It’s a country that knows how to value the importance of family and religion. These are things that Europe has lost. In sport, Europeans don’t have the same love for the national team shirt. I really admire the joy of the Brazilian people, the energy the country has and the beauty of Rio de Janeiro. This is very clear, especially at carnival. I really like Brazil.”

Ancelotti mentioning religion is significant. Like Italy, more than half of the Brazilian population is Catholic, with faith guiding principles and providing lessons in life. “Religion has taught me good things like how to conduct myself in life, how to respect others,” Ancelotti says. “I am Catholic and religion has been very important to me and has taught me to be a good person in the world.” Does he pray for the injury problems to stop? “Ha, yes,” Ancelotti says with a laugh, before turning more serious. “It is a concern. We’ve already had three major injuries. I hope we don’t have any more problems before the World Cup.”

The country ranked sixth in the world have already lost Éder Militão and Rodrygo, with Estêvão a serious doubt. It has further complicated Ancelotti’s work. He has had only 10 games in charge of the team, finishing with five wins, two draws and three defeats. Within the jigsaw of finding his optimal starting XI, Ancelotti is trying to repeat what he did at Real Madrid in 2024 – making Vinícius the best player in the world. With Brazil, the 25-year-old has not been able to shine in the same way. He has eight goals in 47 international games. But Ancelotti knows how to galvanise the forward.

“Look, the responsibility he carries for Brazil is huge, especially recently,” Ancelotti says. “This responsibility can be a burden for him. Our job in the national team is to take some of that weight off his shoulders so he can play with joy, energy and all the qualities he possesses.

“I see Vinícius as I saw him at Real Madrid: a spectacular player and a spectacular person who can win a match on his own. He’ll be very important for Brazil at the World Cup. But being the No 1? The star player? We don’t need a No 1. We can’t focus everything on just one player. We must think as a team. That’s the only way to win the World Cup”.

Ancelotti finds himself in a different situation to most recent Brazil coaches, who have handed all the responsibility to Neymar. The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward is 34 now and has struggled to stay fit. He may have 79 goals for his country but he has not played a match for the Seleção since October 2023. The Neymar issue, unsurprisingly, is dominating the discourse in Brazil at the moment. A survey by the Datafolha institute showed that 53% of Brazilians want Neymar at the World Cup, while 34% were against it and 13% remained undecided.

The World Cup squad announcement is only days away – 18 May – and Ancelotti is categorical when the possible inclusion of Neymar is brought up. “Neymar’s call-up depends only on him,” he says. “It depends on what the player shows on the pitch. That’s a very clear criteria and that is not only for Neymar. With most players you need to assess talent and physical condition. With Neymar we only need to assess his physical condition because his talent is beyond question. It depends on him, not on me.”

Another experienced player hoping to be included is the former Chelsea and PSG centre-back Thiago Silva who, at 41, has had a good season at Porto and is hoping to play in his fifth World Cup. “Thiago Silva is on the radar, yes,” says Ancelotti. “He’s been playing very well, he won the Portuguese league and is in a great physical condition.

“Leaders are important. Fortunately, this squad has highly respected leaders. Leaders who don’t say much but set a good example, such as Alisson, Casemiro, Marquinhos and Raphinha. In that sense, the squad is in good hands.”

This will be Ancelotti’s fourth World Cup. He was a player in the Italy team in 1986 and 1990 and was an assistant coach to Arrigo Sacchi the last time the tournament was played in North America, in 1994. Returning to the US after 32 years brings a feeling of happiness and nostalgia to the coach whose team reached the final that year, losing on penalties to … Brazil.

Some things have changed – for the better according to Ancelotti. “In 1994 the matches were at midday in New York with temperatures of 43C (109F). Now the kick-off times are better. The weather won’t be a problem as it was in 1994.”

When Ancelotti was appointed, most headlines in Brazil said he had swapped the biggest club in the world for the most important national team. There are similarities, Ancelotti admits, but also many differences. “They’re different ways of working for a manager,” he says. “But the most important thing I learned at Real Madrid, and which I use in Brazil, is high standards. When you are demanding you have a better chance of winning. Real Madrid is the most successful club in the world because the club is demanding of everyone who works there. If you are demanding, you get the best out of everyone.”

A dog lover, Ancelotti sees in the animals a haven from the problems of football. “I have three dogs who are in Canada,” he says. “A dog isn’t a person, but it’s more loyal than a person. A dog doesn’t care if you win or lose. They don’t blame you. When you get home, whether you’ve won or lost, the dog doesn’t care. The important thing is that you’re home with them”.

So, what will it take for Brazil, who face Morocco, Haiti and Scotland in their group, to become world champions? “Talent,” Ancelotti says. “I have a very talented squad. Also, the motivation that this country has to win again after 24 years is enormous. I’m convinced we’re going to have a great World Cup.”