Renato Gaúcho cut from 1986 World Cup by Telê after breaking curfew, 40 years on | OneFootball

Brazil open their 2026 World Cup against Morocco on Saturday. Forty years on, Renato Gaúcho missed his first finals after breaching Telê Santana’s camp rules, according to Globo.com.

Then 23, the forward was a Grêmio star. Leandro, 26, was a Flamengo idol and three-time Brazilian champion. The pair were based at Cruzeiro’s Toca da Raposa.

They slipped out on a Sunday night in Belo Horizonte. Reports at the time said they were seen in a nightclub, leaving around 3.30am. They returned through the front gate and, under Telê’s directive, were reported the next day.

Telê called it disloyal and a betrayal, and briefly moved to cut both before team-mates calmed him. Renato later said: "I carried Leandro because he could not jump the wall, the security saw us. With 28 players he had to trim the list. I knew I would not stay." Speaking on the podcast Casão Pod Tudo.

Renato was omitted from the final list in May 1986. Leandro was named, then withdrew on departure day, feeling guilty over his colleague’s fate. Zico and Júnior went to his home to persuade him, without success.

Renato finally played at the 1990 World Cup under Sebastião Lazaroni, coming on late in Brazil’s last 16 defeat by Argentina, his only appearance. Leandro never played for Brazil again and retired in 1990 at 31 with chronic knee problems.

Source: Globo.com