World Cup call-up, Bobadilla treating injury in Paraguay, out for São Paulo | OneFootball

Coach Dorival Júnior’s appeal for São Paulo’s medical department to clear injured players as soon as possible (especially Marcos Antônio) was not without reason.

Defensive midfielder Bobadilla is not expected to play for Tricolor again before the break for the World Cup. In fact, he is said to have already traveled to join up with the Paraguay national team, which will go to the tournament, and has begun preparations.

However, the midfielder, who had been one of coach Gustavo Alfaro’s main players in the South American side, has reportedly still not been cleared to train because of a blow to the knee he suffered during Friday’s training session (22). São Paulo has not released any information about Bobadilla or his medical condition. In theory, he missed the draw with Botafogo over the weekend because he was suspended after receiving his third yellow card.

Paraguay’s national team medical department is expected to monitor the player’s recovery, but for now he would not be considered a concern for the World Cup, although it is still unclear when he will be able to start training with his teammates.

Bobadilla is still not guaranteed a place on the list of 26 players who will go to North America, as it will only be announced next Monday (6/1).

For now, he is only part of the 55-man preliminary squad, along with goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, who, however, appears less likely to make the cut.

For Tricolor, being without Bobadilla at this moment has become a problem. He will now also miss the match against Boston River this Tuesday (26) and against Remo next Sunday (31), the team’s last game before the break, although he was already expected to be absent then because of his national team preparations.

For his role as one half of the two-man defensive midfield pairing, Dorival has Danielzinho, Pablo Maia and Luan, in addition to the little-used Negrucci and Hugo Leonardo. The first two were used in the last match and seem to be the favorites to remain the starters in that area.

Another question is whether Bobadilla may have already played his last game in the Tricolor shirt in the draw with Millonarios six days ago. With the exposure he may gain at the World Cup and São Paulo’s need to sell players, he looks like a very likely target for foreign clubs in the mid-year transfer window. In its 2026 budget, the board projected revenue of 180.6 million reais from player transfers, which would probably make a good offer from abroad for the Paraguayan almost impossible to refuse.

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