São Paulo: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will leave the Spanish club and take over as coach of Brazil’s national team, the Brazilian football federation confirmed on Monday.

The 65-year-old Ancelotti, who will be Brazil's first full-time foreign coach in a century, is still under contract with Madrid. The final round of the Spanish league will be on 25 May, and the CBF said in a statement that he will officially take over the Brazil team the following day.

“Bringing Carlo Ancelotti to coach Brazil is more than a strategic movement. It is a statement to the world that we are determined to recover the top of the podium,” CBF President Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement. “He is the greatest coach in history and, now, he will be with the greatest national team on the planet. Together, we will write new glorious chapters of Brazilian soccer.”

Rodrigues said Ancelotti will take charge of Brazil’s next two fixtures in South American World Cup qualifying, making his debut against Ecuador on 5 June and then playing in front of home fans against Paraguay in São Paulo five days later.

Ancelotti's contract with Madrid ends next year but is expected to be terminated early.

He will replace Dorival Júnior, who held the position for 14 months before being dismissed in March following a 4-1 defeat to Argentina. Brazil currently sits in fourth position in World Cup qualifying after 14 matches and is still uncertain about the form of its 33-year-old star Neymar, who is struggling to return to top fitness after an ACL injury in 2023. The top six teams will secure direct qualification for next year’s tournament.

Ancelotti departs Madrid after a frustrating season in which the team failed to defend its European title and saw rivals Barcelona win the Copa del Rey and move close to securing the league title after a 4-3 victory over Madrid on Sunday. The Italian coach and Real Madrid have yet to comment on the CBF's announcement.

Ancelotti's appointment ends a turbulent period for Brazil’s bench since Tite left after the 2022 World Cup quarter-final defeat to Croatia. Under-20 coach Ramon Menezes and Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz took temporary charge for several matches as Rodrigues pursued Ancelotti for the permanent role.

Menezes and Diniz both underperformed, and during that time Ancelotti extended his deal with Madrid. Dorival Júnior was then appointed in 2024 to lead the team to the World Cup, but he too was dismissed following poor results and unconvincing performances.

Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus, a 70-year-old Portuguese who won several titles with Brazil’s Flamengo in 2019, had been the favourite to take the Brazil job until Madrid was knocked out of the Champions League by Arsenal earlier in April. Local media also reported that Neymar’s father and agent played a role in preventing his son’s former coach in Saudi Arabia from taking over.

Brazil will be Ancelotti’s first international experience as a full-time head coach. He was an assistant to Arrigo Sacchi during the 1994 World Cup, when Italy lost to Brazil in the final on penalties.

That win ended a 24-year World Cup title drought for Brazil—the same time span it faces next year in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Ancelotti, who won Serie A titles as a player with Roma and AC Milan and two European titles with the latter as a creative midfielder, began his full-time coaching career in 1995 at Italy's Reggiana.

He has also managed Parma, Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Napoli and Everton, winning titles in Italy, England, Spain, France, and Germany.

He won the Champions League twice with Milan in 2003 and 2007, and added three more titles with Real Madrid in 2014, 2022, and last year.

Ancelotti will become only the second foreign coach to lead Brazil in an international tournament. The first was Uruguayan Ramón Platero, who coached Brazil in the 1925 South American Championship, the predecessor of the current Copa América. He was in charge for 19 days and four matches in a round-robin competition with Paraguay and Argentina, securing two wins, one loss and one draw. Argentina lifted the title.

Portuguese coach Jorge Gomes de Lima, known as Joreca, briefly shared Brazil’s coaching role with local Flávio Costa in two friendly victories over Uruguay in 1944.

In 1965, Argentine coach Filpo Núñez coached Brazil for one day. Núñez was then coach of Palmeiras, and Brazil’s football body chose the São Paulo-based club to represent the national team in a friendly against Uruguay at the inauguration of the Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte. The hosts won 3-0.

The announcement of Ancelotti’s departure came a day after Madrid lost its fourth straight match to Barcelona this season, falling seven points behind the Catalan side with three rounds remaining.

Former player Xabi Alonso is widely expected to take over at Madrid after confirming his departure from Bayer Leverkusen.

Alonso led Leverkusen to an unprecedented German league and cup double last year in his first full season, having taken over when the team was near the Bundesliga relegation zone the previous season. As a player, he starred for Madrid, winning a Spanish league title in 2012 and the 2014 Champions League before moving to Bayern Munich, where he won three Bundesliga titles.

Madrid still has to compete in the upcoming Club World Cup beginning next month.