Estêvão injury puts 2026 World Cup in doubt; Pedro eyes Brazil spot | OneFootball

What happened to Estêvão, Chelsea (ENG) forward?

Forward Estêvão received very bad news after Chelsea’s (ENG) match against Manchester United (ENG) in the Premier League. After picking up an injury in last Saturday’s (18) clash, the player was diagnosed with a left thigh injury and now risks missing the 2026 World Cup.

According to information published by British newspaper ‘The Athletic’, Estêvão suffered a grade 4 injury. Given the situation, with the seriousness of the injury confirmed, the outlet considers it highly unlikely that the forward will return to the pitch before the start of the national team tournament.

If the severity of the injury is confirmed, Ancelotti will have to ‘rack his brains’ to find a replacement for Estêvão. That is because the Chelsea forward had emerged as one of the coach’s trusted men in the Brazil national team. So far, the 18-year-old is currently the Seleção’s top scorer with five goals.

WHAT ARE ANCELOTTI’S OPTIONS TO REPLACE ESTÊVÃO IN THE BRAZIL NATIONAL TEAM?

Amid this possible loss of Estêvão for the World Cup, Ancelotti will have to look at other options to fill the gap. As a result, Pedro, from Flamengo, could gain momentum to take the Chelsea forward’s spot in the Brazil squad.

WHAT IS FLAMENGO’S NEXT MATCH?

While Estêvão deals with his injury, the Flamengo squad remains focused on its next commitment of the season. This Wednesday (22), Mengo faces Vitória in the first leg of the fifth round of the Copa do Brasil.

In short, the ball starts rolling at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at the Maracanã. As usual, Coluna do Fla TV will bring all the details of the match with on-site coverage from Rodrigo Lima and Rock Hudson on YouTube, as well as on the website and social media. Finally, SporTV (subscription channel) and Premiere (pay-per-view) will broadcast the match.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.