Bobadilla is São Paulo's eighth foreigner to play in the Copa | OneFootball

With Bobadilla’s call-up to the Paraguay squad that will compete in the 2026 edition, Tricolor reached 55 World Cup call-ups — the eighth involving a player of a nationality other than Brazilian.

See below the list of foreign players who represented Tricolor when they were called up for the World Cup:

1974: Pedro Rocha and Forlán (Uruguay); 1986: Darío Pereyra (Uruguay); 1998: Aristizábal (Colombia); 2014: Álvaro Pereira (Uruguay); 2018: Cueva (Peru); 2022: Arboleda (Ecuador); 2026: Bobadilla (Paraguay).

1974: Pedro Rocha and Pablo Forlán

The celebrated Uruguayan duo from Tricolor in the 1970s arrived at the World Cup in Germany with the responsibility of representing one of the tournament’s seeded nations. After all, four years earlier in Mexico, they had reached the semifinals, being eliminated by the champion Brazilian National Team.

Forlán, who had already played in the 1966 World Cup, wore the number 4 shirt, while Pedro Rocha, a veteran of FIFA’s biggest competition, took part in his fourth edition (he had also played in 1962, 1966, and 1970), wearing the number 10.

Both players took part in all of Uruguay’s matches at the World Cup. Unfortunately, the Uruguayan national team did not go very far, being eliminated in the first stage. In the three matches they played, they earned only one point in a 1–1 draw with Bulgaria (goal by Pavoni). They lost to the Netherlands (0–2), the tournament’s surprise team, and Sweden (0–3).

Forlán remained with Tricolor until 1975, and Verdugo stayed three more years, until 1978.

1986: Darío Pereyra

Darío Pereyra had slightly better luck. The versatile player (he played as an attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder, and center back), who formed an unforgettable partnership with Oscar in Tricolor’s defense, reached the round of 16 of the World Cup. In the World Cup draw, Uruguay was placed in Pot 2, among strong teams, though not seeded ones. Alongside Denmark, Germany, and Scotland, they formed Group E in the tournament’s first stage.

La Celeste got an excellent result by drawing 1–1 with West Germany, but then suffered a heavy defeat to the surprising Danish Dynamite: 6–1. The aftermath was a 0–0 draw against Scotland. Darío, wearing the number 14 shirt, only played in that match during the group stage. Having qualified in third place in the group, they faced Argentina in the knockout round.

The team from the other side of the Río de la Plata got the better of them and won 1–0. Darío was on the field, but could do nothing to prevent Pasculli’s goal and his country’s elimination. Pereyra played for Tricolor until 1988.

1998: Víctor Aristizábal

The Colombian Aristizábal tormented opposing defenses for Tricolor in the late 1990s, alongside França and Dodô. His performances earned him a place at the World Cup in France, where he appeared, wearing the number 15 shirt, in all three of Colombia’s matches, though he was only in the starting lineup in the 1–0 loss to Romania.

In the 1–0 win over Tunisia and the 2–0 loss to England, the striker came on during the second half and did not score.

In Group G, Colombia finished in third place, behind Romania and England, and was therefore eliminated. After the World Cup, Aristizábal left Tricolor and moved to Santos.

2014: Álvaro Pereira

Tricolor’s left-back in 2014 did not take part in La Celeste’s opening match at that World Cup (the Uruguayans lost 3–1 to Costa Rica). However, wearing the number 6 shirt, he took over the position in the next match and helped his country beat England 2–1, staying on the field for the full 90 minutes.

In the final group-stage match, in the thrilling and decisive win over Italy, Álvaro Pereira was on the field for 63 minutes before being substituted by coach Óscar Tabárez for Christian Stuani.

With that result, Uruguay finished second in Group D with 6 points, one behind Costa Rica. They thus qualified for the round of 16, where they faced Colombia at the Maracanã. Álvaro Pereira played until the ninth minute of the second half, with his team already trailing the Colombians 2–0, and was replaced by Gastón Ramírez. But nothing changed. Uruguay was eliminated by Colombia by that score.

At the end of 2014, after his spell with Tricolor ended (a loan from Internazionale), Álvaro returned to Italy and soon afterward went on to play for Estudiantes de La Plata.

2018: Cueva

A São Paulo player since 2016, Cueva was the first Peruvian player to represent the club at a World Cup. Wearing the number 8 shirt, the midfielder took part in all three of his team’s matches in the competition.

He made his debut against Denmark and ended up being decisive to the result, as he missed a penalty in the match Peru lost 1–0.

In the next match, against France, Cueva was substituted by Raúl Ruidíaz with eight minutes left, with the opponent already leading by what would be the final score, 1–0.

The midfielder’s best performance came in the final round, against Australia. Peru opened the scoring through Carrillo in the first half and, in the second, Cueva combined with Trauco and found Paolo Guerrero to score the second goal and seal the Peruvian national team’s victory, which finished third in World Cup Group C.

2022: Arboleda

The Ecuadorian, who has played for São Paulo since July 2017, was called up for the Qatar World Cup, but the center back did not play in any of Ecuador’s matches in that edition.

After a promising start, beating the host nation 2–0, Ecuador drew with the strong Dutch side, but was eliminated from the competition after losing to Senegal in the final round of the group stage. The country finished only in third place in Group A, with four points.

Special case

The case of Ecuadorian Reasco is different from the other players presented in this work. Reasco did not go to the 2006 World Cup called up as a Tricolor player, but rather while playing for LDU Quito. However, when the World Cup began, the right-back already had a contract with São Paulo.

Thus, his name is not officially linked to Tricolor under the most common analysis criteria, but his participation is worth mentioning here. Wearing the number 18 shirt, Reasco was only absent from Ecuador’s 2–0 loss to Germany. With him, Ecuador defeated Poland 2–0 and Costa Rica 3–0. They were eliminated, however, in the round of 16 by England (0–1), after finishing second in Group A in the first stage, just behind Germany.

Reasco only joined Tricolor the following August. Right in his debut, against Goiás, he suffered a serious injury. Injuries that followed him throughout his time at São Paulo. It was a three-year spell, from 2006 to 2008. Few people notice, but the Ecuadorian was one of only nine men to win the Brazilian championship three times in a row.

As for Brazil…

Also check out the list of call-ups to the Brazilian National Team:

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