Akash Mishra: "Our mistakes gave them goals" after India’s 4-0 friendly loss to Brazil
India lost 4-0 to Brazil at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata in a FIFA International Friendlies fixture on 3 October 2026, and left-back Akash Mishra spoke to media after the match about the defeat and the squad’s preparation.
India held their own defensively until around the 25th minute but conceded when Estevao scored in the 28th minute and Pedro added a late first-half goal to make it 2-0 at half-time; Samuel Lino scored twice in the second half to complete Brazil’s 4-0 victory. The Blue Tigers created several second-half chances but failed to convert, and the side’s attacking numbers included 13 successful dribbles for India compared to Brazil’s 3. Mishra, who featured in India’s game against Panama, was described as having a decent outing against Brazil.
When asked about the match, Mishra said defensive errors cost India and that the team had prepared with a plan similar to their Panama approach: “As we prepared against Panama, we had the plan against Brazil also. I don’t want to take anything from Brazil; they scored the top goals, but I think we also could have done better. We only gave them some of the goals. Now we have the next game against Uruguay, so we’ll work on it, and we’ll try.”
On whether facing top opposition helps confidence, Mishra said competing against strong teams raises belief and that India performed better in this game than against Panama: “Honestly, after the game we were saying the same thing, that if we play games like this, teams like this, of course our confidence will go up. And even against Brazil, we, as a team, we tried to play; we tried to keep the ball. I think we played much better than against Panama; we played much better today. But yeah, again, it’s Brazil.”
Describing the team’s intent and the dressing-room discussion, Mishra said India aimed to keep the game open rather than sit back and defend: “We had our conversation in the dressing room, and we wanted the game to be open. We don’t want to sit back and just defend, defend. And I think you guys saw how we wanted to play. Yeah, like I said, our mistake gave them the goals. But yeah, we tried our best, and we tried to play football.”
Mishra addressed his own pre-match feelings, saying excitement was present beforehand but that on the pitch it felt like a regular match focused on representing the country: “For me, I think the excitement was there before the game. But when the game started, it was normal for me. It was India versus Brazil, 11 versus 11. So yeah, maybe the excitement was there before the game. But on the pitch, it was, for me, just a normal game. Representing the country, trying to give our best.”
India’s next fixture is the final game of the FIFA window, against the Uruguay national team on 6 October at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan, scheduled for 7:30 pm IST; the match follows India’s draw with Panama and the 4-0 defeat by Brazil.