Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti has urged his players to develop greater mental resilience following their 3-2 defeat to Japan in Tokyo on Tuesday, marking their first-ever loss to the Asian side.

The Italian stressed the importance of learning from the mistakes that allowed Japan’s stunning second-half comeback, as he prepares his squad for next year’s World Cup in North America.

Ancelotti, who took over in May after Brazil’s inconsistent World Cup qualifying campaign, has focused on creating a team that is both adaptable and mentally strong. While recent matches had shown progress, Tuesday’s loss highlighted areas that still require improvement, and raised questions about his decision to field a heavily rotated side following Friday’s 5-0 win over South Korea.

“No, everything is not fine. When the team loses, we are upset, which is normal. Everyone is upset. I don’t like to lose, and neither do the players. We have to learn from this defeat, as we always do in football,” Ancelotti said at a press conference.

“Until Bruno’s mistake on the first goal, the game was well controlled. After that, the team fell apart mentally. That was the biggest mistake,” he added.

He acknowledged that the second half was not entirely poor, but emphasized how the early error affected the players’ mindset.

When questioned about whether such mistakes could influence World Cup squad selections, Ancelotti dismissed the idea, focusing instead on the team’s collective response.

“Individual mistakes do not affect a player’s presence in the team. What we have to evaluate is the team’s reaction after the first mistake, which was not good because we lost a little of our balance on the pitch and our positive thinking. It’s a good lesson for the future,” he said.

Brazil will face Senegal and Tunisia in friendlies this November, to be played in England and France.

“This and the next international break are testing periods, and we will continue testing in November,” Ancelotti said. “The team played very well against Korea, well in the first half today, and very poorly in the second half. In the World Cup, we have to strike a balance. We must learn from our mistakes. It was a good lesson tonight. I think we need to find a balance in what we do. It’s a process…”