In Houston in June, Gabriel Martinelli struck in the fifth minute of added time to give the Selecao a 2-1 win in a disappointing World Cup campaign, which was ended by Norway in the quarter-finals.
Now Ancelotti is building for the future, and his 26-man Brazil squad for matches against Japan this weekend and Singapore on Tuesday includes 15 players under the age of 23.
"The World Cup closed a cycle for a generation of players," Ancelotti told reporters Friday.
"We are now building a new generation to be focused and competitive in our next official competitions: the Copa America in 2028 and the World Cup in 2030.
"I think we have a lot of potential. We are looking at young players, including some new players here, and we are very satisfied with what we are seeing.
"We have young players with a lot of quality and talent, so we look to the future with confidence."
The 67-year-old was reluctant to single out anyone for special praise.
"You see their attitude in training and how focused they are. All of them have given us a lot of confidence for the future because we can see that we have players with a lot of quality," he said.
"They may lack some experience, but that is normal for young players."
'A match of World Cup calibre'
In-form Barcelona striker Raphinha will captain the team against Japan.
"My expectations are good. Obviously, we are going through a period of rebuilding with new players, but I see players with a lot of quality and a great desire to give everything they can for the national team shirt," said Raphinha, who appeared in only two matches at the World Cup because of a hamstring injury.
"This is a match of World Cup calibre, as we saw at the last World Cup. It will be a very difficult game because we know the quality of Japan's national team."
Moriyasu, who is expected to be replaced by Japan under-23 coach Go Oiwa after the match against Paraguay in Singapore next Tuesday, meanwhile looked back at eight years in charge.
"There are many things that we managed to do; we managed to succeed, but there were also things that we couldn't do," said Moriyasu.
"I managed to increase the depth of the squad."