Empty stakes on paper, big moment in practice. Brazil, already through to the 2026 World Cup, closed their home qualifying slate at the Maracanã with a comfortable 3-0 win over Chile on Thursday, September 4, 2025. For Carlo Ancelotti, it was a clean runway to test ideas. For Chile, it was damage control at the end of a bruising campaign.
The U.S. broadcast window started at 8:30 PM ET (5:30 PM PT), with a spread of TV and streaming options. Fans worldwide also had access through regional partners that carried the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers.
Brazil 3–0 Chile: Score, scorers, and stakes
If you only saw the score, you still got the story. Brazil handled their business: Estêvão broke the game open in the 38th minute with his first goal for the senior team, Lucas Paquetá doubled it in the 72nd, and Bruno Guimarães added a third in the 76th. It wasn’t a thriller; it was controlled, tidy, and exactly what Ancelotti would want from a team already booked for North America.
The night mattered to the hosts for different reasons than the table. With qualification locked up in March, the focus has shifted from points to patterns—decisions on personnel, role clarity in midfield, and how to blend a new wave of attackers with experienced heads. Estêvão’s milestone was a neat snapshot of that balance: proven names around him, room for a teenager to breathe, and a moment to stamp himself on a famous stadium.
For Chile, it was about avoiding a flat ending. The qualifying run had gone off course months ago, and a pair of defeats to Argentina and Bolivia in June made the outcome official. Ricardo Gareca’s departure opened the door for interim coach Nicolás Córdova, whose brief was simple: stabilize the team, shrink the gaps between the lines, and try to leave Rio with pride intact. For an hour they held the rope; then Brazil turned the screw.
Form lines coming in told you where this could go. Brazil’s last five showed swings—a 1-0 over Paraguay, stalemates with Ecuador and Uruguay, a heavy 4-1 loss to Argentina, and a 2-1 against Colombia. Chile’s were harsher: defeats to Bolivia (2-0), Argentina (1-0), and Paraguay (1-0), a 0-0 with Ecuador, and only one big win, a 6-1 against Panama. Oddsmakers leaned into that split, pricing Brazil around -500, a draw near +550, and Chile at long-shot territory, roughly +1400.
Ancelotti didn’t need a statement, just rhythm. Brazil’s midfield protected transitions, fullbacks picked their moments, and the forwards pushed Chile’s back line deeper as the night wore on. The payoff came with three well-timed strikes rather than a blitz, an economical performance that avoided the end-of-window drift that can creep into “dead rubber” fixtures.
Chile leave the Maracanã with a familiar checklist: tighten defensive rotations, give their attack a clearer route into the box, and build a spine that can survive away days in South America. Córdova’s job now is to hand the next coach a team that knows what it’s trying to be. With CONMEBOL’s expanded path to 2026 (six automatic spots, and a seventh to the intercontinental playoff), missing out stings even more. The rebuild starts with basics—fitness, structure, and a few steady results to reset belief.
For Brazil, this was also about the venue. The Maracanã has seen enough eras to know a new one when it arrives. Ancelotti’s group isn’t finished, but nights like this—professional, controlled, with a young scorer stealing a headline—are how you stack confidence before the tournament lights go up in North America.
How to watch: TV and streaming in the U.S. and worldwide
If you were watching in the U.S., the match window was 8:30 PM ET (5:30 PM PT). Coverage for the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifier included both streaming and TV options. Spanish-language platforms carried a big share of the action, with English coverage also available.
- United States: ViX (primary streaming), Peacock, Universo, and Fubo carried coverage of the game window.
- Australia: SBS On Demand.
- Brazil: GloboPlay and Amazon Prime Video provided coverage alongside domestic broadcast partners.
- Chile: Chilevisión and Mega.
- Selected other markets: Vision+ and additional regional broadcasters.
Programming specifics—pregame shows, alternate commentary feeds, and replay windows—varied by platform. Universo and ViX operated with Spanish-language commentary, while Peacock offered an English option within its sports slate. Availability can change by territory and rights window, so checking listings close to kickoff remains the safest play.
Kickoff logistics were straightforward: a single-game window out of Rio, and no neutral-site complications. The match belonged to the global rights package for CONMEBOL qualifiers, a double round-robin where 10 nations play home and away. Thanks to the expanded 48-team World Cup, South America now sends six teams straight through, with the seventh-place side heading to the intercontinental playoff. That’s why the mid-table math shifted this cycle—and why Brazil could work on chemistry while Chile faced a steeper climb even before this trip.
Missed it live? The same U.S. platforms that carried the match have historically offered postgame replays and highlights within their apps, though availability depends on rights windows and your subscription tier. If you plan to rewatch, sign in early, search by team names—try Brazil vs Chile—and look for the match tile or a condensed highlights reel in the event hub.
One last practical note for streamers: if you’re catching future qualifiers on a connected TV, pick the highest bitrate stream your internet can comfortably handle, and avoid last-minute logins on game night. A short test ahead of kickoff usually saves you from buffering during key moments—like a teenager scoring his first for Brazil at the Maracanã.