Brasil and the United States meet in a friendly this Saturday at 18:30 ET at the Neo Química Arena in São Paulo, the first of two matches between the sides in the current FIFA window.
The game will be shown live on Sportv2, with ge providing real-time text coverage throughout the match. Both head coaches announced 26-player squads for the pair of friendlies: Arthur Elias for Brasil and Emma Hayes for the United States.
On paper the fixture pairs a seventh-ranked Brasil against the No. 2 United States, with recent meetings carrying weight. The U.S. beat Brasil 1-0 in the Paris 2024 Olympic final, while Brasil recorded a 2-1 victory over the Americans in San José, California, in April of last year — a result that ended a drought of ten years and four months without a Brazilian win over the United States.
Form across the two teams is mixed. Brasil’s March slate included a 5-2 win over Costa Rica and losses to Venezuela (2-1) and Mexico (1-0), followed by a strong showing in April’s Fifa Series in Cuiabá with wins against South Korea (5-1), Zambia (6-1) and Canada (1-0). The United States began the year with emphatic friendlies — 6-0 over Paraguay and 5-0 over Chile in January — captured the SheBelieves Cup in March and played three friendlies against Japan in April (two wins and one defeat).
The two teams will meet again in the same international window: the return fixture is set for Tuesday at 21:30 ET at the Arena Castelão in Fortaleza. Coaches on both sides have signalled they will use the São Paulo match to test combinations and manage minutes across the squad ahead of the Fortaleza game.
There is a notable fitness and selection wrinkle for Brasil. Marta took part in Friday’s training session and had her workload controlled during the week because of an issue in the posterior thigh, and she will not start Saturday’s match. Marta was a key figure in Brasil’s Copa América Feminina title run in August 2025 and played a decisive role in the final; whether she will be introduced from the bench in São Paulo remains open.
Practical attention for viewers: Sportv2 carries the full live broadcast while ge runs minute-by-minute coverage that will track substitutions and tactical shifts in real time. With both coaches carrying 26-player rosters, expect rotation and opportunities for fringe players to stake claims ahead of Tuesday’s rematch.
Saturday’s friendly is the first Brasil - Estados Unidos meeting of this FIFA window and the opening move in a two-game sequence that ends in Fortaleza on Tuesday at 21:30 ET. Marta’s usage in São Paulo — whether she gets minutes off the bench or is held out entirely and preserved for Fortaleza — is the decisive unresolved issue emerging from the first match.
