Do we like them?

Do we like Carlo Ancelotti?

Our score: 7 out of 10. No harmful words or company turned up and he has backed a racism victim, but a tax conviction and a thin record of good deeds hold him back.

Ancelotti is the Italian coach who made his name at the big European clubs, including a first stint in charge of Real Madrid around 2014. In 2025 he took the Brazil job, his first national team. By May 2026 his contract with the Brazilian federation had been extended to the 2030 World Cup.

The blot on his record is the taxman. A Madrid court convicted him of tax fraud over 2014, when he was Real Madrid boss, and sentenced him to a year in prison plus a fine of 386,000 euros. The sentence was suspended because it was under two years and he had no previous record. Prosecutors had wanted up to four years and nine months, and the court did not convict him over 2015. His press officer said only that he would not comment for now.

On the harm test he comes up clean, and in places well. When Vinícius Júnior was being abused in Spain, Ancelotti said the problem was Vinícius's surroundings rather than the player, and called it a problem of Spanish football that had to be solved. We found nothing from him against LGBTQ+ people, women or migrants. That is an absence of evidence, so we're not claiming he's campaigned for those groups either.

The recent bit is a mess. Brazil lost 2-1 to Norway in the round of 16, their worst World Cup showing since 1990 by one account. Ronaldo Nazário, who had backed his appointment, blamed his choices in the deciding match. Ancelotti said his side created enough chances. That's a football argument, not a character one, but he's copping plenty of it.

The good stuff is quieter than the trophies. Handling a flare-up with Vinícius over his reaction to being substituted, Ancelotti said he had told the winger he made a mistake, that Vinícius understood and apologised, and that the issue was closed. That's a calm, grown-up way to run a dressing room. We couldn't verify any big charity work beyond that, so the record is thin there.

So would we back him? Mostly yes. He doesn't punch down, he's stood beside a racism victim, and his worst mark is a tax conviction that ended in a suspended sentence. That's a real stain but one stain, not a pattern. If you want a hero with a spotless rap sheet, look elsewhere; if you want a decent bloke who got his sums wrong, he's your man.