São Paulo players called up for the World Cup | OneFootball

With Bobadilla’s call-up to the Paraguay national team for the 2026 edition, Tricolor reached 55 World Cup call-ups — the eighth involving a player of a nationality other than Brazilian.

Below is the list of foreign players who were with Tricolor when they were called up for the World Cup:

1974: Pedro Rocha and Pablo Forlán

The celebrated Uruguayan duo from Tricolor in the 1970s went into the World Cup in Germany carrying 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, and Pedro Rocha, a veteran of FIFA’s biggest competition, took part in his fourth edition (he 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 side did not go very far, falling in the first stage of the tournament. From the three matches played, they earned only one point in a draw with Bulgaria (1–1, goal by Pavoni). They lost to the Netherlands (0x2), the sensation of the tournament, and Sweden (0x3).

Forlán remained with Tricolor until 1975, and the Verdugo stayed three years longer, 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, it formed Group E in the first stage of the tournament.

La Celeste got a great result by drawing 1–1 with West Germany, but then suffered a heavy defeat against the surprising Danish Dynamite: 6–1. The aftermath was a 0–0 draw against Scotland. Darío, wearing number 14, only played in that first-stage match. 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 came out on top and won 1–0. Darío was on the field, but there was nothing he could do to prevent Pasculli’s goal and his country’s elimination. Pereyra stayed with Tricolor until 1988.

1998: Víctor Aristizábal

The Colombian Aristizábal tormented opposing defenses for Tricolor in the late 1990s, alongside França and Dodô. His performances took him to the World Cup in France, where he was on the field, wearing the number 15 shirt, in all three matches Colombia played, but only in the 1–0 defeat to Romania did he start.

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). Number 6, however, took over the position in the following round and helped his country beat England 2–1, staying on the field for the full 90 minutes.

In the final round of the first stage, in the thrilling and decisive win over Italy, Álvaro Pereira was on the field for 63 minutes, until he was substituted by coach Óscar Tabárez for Christian Stuani.

With that result, Uruguay finished second in Group D with 6 points, one behind Costa Rica. In this way, it qualified for the round of 16, where, at the Maracanã, it faced Colombia. Álvaro Pereira played until nine minutes into the second half, when Uruguay was already trailing the Colombians 2–0, making way for Gastón Ramírez. But nothing changed. Uruguay was eliminated by Colombia by that scoreline.

At the end of 2014, once 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 played in all three of his team’s matches in the tournament.

He made his debut against Denmark and ended up being decisive in the outcome, as he missed a penalty in the match Peru lost 1x0.

In the next game, against France, Cueva was replaced by Raúl Ruidíaz with eight minutes left, with the opponent already leading by what would be the final score, 1x0.

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, as it 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 take the field in any of Ecuador’s matches in that edition.

After a promising start, beating the host nation 2–0, Ecuador drew with the strong Netherlands but was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Senegal in the final round of the first stage. The country ended up finishing only third in Group A, with four points.

Special case

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

In this way, his name is not officially linked to Tricolor under the most common criteria of analysis, but his participation is still worth mentioning here. Wearing the number 18 shirt, Reasco only missed Ecuador’s defeat to Germany (0x2). With him, Ecuador beat Poland 2–0 and Costa Rica 3–0. They were eliminated, however, in the round of 16 by England (0 x1), after finishing second in Group A in the first stage, just behind Germany.

Reasco only joined Tricolor in the following August. In his very 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 consecutive times.

As for Brazil…

Also check out the list of call-ups to the Brazilian national team:

*There is a dispute regarding Araken’s name, but it is certain that before the call-up for the 1930 World Cup, the player’s last match was for São Paulo.

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