Why Ibanez, relentless in RSL, deserves place in Brazil's World Cup plans | OneFootball

Every time a footballer is called up to their national team, it is a proud moment - for the player, for his friends and, especially, for his family.

But there is also pride at his or her club, and the league in which they play. It’s a kind of validation that it's capable of housing, and developing, prime international players.

That's what makes Roger Ibanez’s inclusion in the current Brazil squad so unmistakably significant. The Al Ahli defender may have previous experience with the Selecao having made his international debut in 2022 against Tunisia while playing in Italy for AS Roma. But he last featured for Brazil the following year.

That was back in September 2023, barely weeks after signing for Al Ahli. Despite a lead role in his club capturing a historic AFC Champions League Elite crown and last summer's Saudi Super Cup, Ibanez has been absent for almost his entire time in Saudi Arabia.

All that changed this month, however, when Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti could no longer ignore the 27-year-old's standout form for the Asian champions, rewarding the all-action centre-back with a call-up for the upcoming friendlies against France and Croatia in the United States.

The first of those twin tests takes place early on Friday morning Saudi time.

Ibanez, though, wasn’t the only Roshn Saudi League star brought into this Brazil squad, either: Al Ittihad title-winner, and now captain, Fabinho and Al Nassr goalkeeper Bento are also part of the 26, making it three Saudi-based players in the same group for the very first time.

Brazil, of course, are rightly feted in international football given the record five-time world champions’ stature and impact on the game globally. Thus, the significance of a footballer getting recognised after so long based entirely on their form in the RSL wasn’t lost on anyone - least of all Ibanez himself.

“We always dream of, and work towards, being here, representing the Brazilian national team, and that’s what I thought about most when I ended up going to Saudi Arabia,” he said this week in an interview with the Brazilian Football Confederation.

“I thought I’d drift away from it a bit, but I believe that if we work hard, if we give it our all on the pitch, the rewards [will) come]. And, thank God, we are back in the national team now.

“I’m absolutely delighted about that. It’s great to be here with the lads.”

Fans of the RSL, though, will not need persuading that Ibanez’s return to the Brazil fold is thoroughly deserved, especially following two-and-a-half years of top-level performances for Al Ahli.

Just this season, Ibanez is ranked first at the club for both passes (1024) and clearances (91) in the RSL, each by a long way.

He forms part of a robust central-defensive partnership with Merih Demiral, who was also called up this international window, as Turkiye face what they hope to be a double-header play-off to make the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer.

Domestically, Demiral and Ibanez combine as a considerable component of the 2025-26 RSL’s most miserly defence: Al Ahli have conceded 19 goals through 26 matchweeks this term to sit third in the table, five points off the summit.

Together, Ibanez and Demiral can feel almost indestructible. Perfectly matched, they leave it all on the pitch, throwing themselves at everything - not recklessly, but with a timing and a precision that makes them such a united force.

And it's not just in defence. One of the most thrilling sights for any Al Ahli fan is Ibanez with the ball at his feet, marauding forward, launching an attack.

In that, his two RSL assists this season put him in the top 10 in the competition for defenders, while his 26 attempts on goal place him inside the top five. Clearly, Ibanez represents a weapon at both ends of the pitch.

That’s before you even consider his leadership value. Now enjoying a third campaign in the RSL, the Rio Grande do Sul-born star is a vocal and vital contributor to Al Ahli’s title-chasing bunch.

Although, it is most probably his defensive work that, first and foremost, attracted the interest of Ancelotti just months out from the World Cup in North America. It's that facet of his game that Ibanez believes playing in a league with so many elite stars has been hoisted to a whole new level.

“Football in Saudi Arabia has improved a lot; the standard of the league there has risen significantly, whether you like it or not,” he said.

“Every club has very good strikers there, so the standard remains very high and we have to work as hard as we can to always be ready. The standard isn’t that different from other competitions; it remains very high and that helps a lot too.

“In Saudi Arabia, there’s Cristiano Ronaldo, there’s [Sadio] Mane, Joao Felix; in Fabinho’s [Al Ittihad] team, there’s [Moussa] Diaby, [Youssef] En Nesyri; there’s Al Hilal’s team, Malcom, [Karim] Benzema - there’s even a Saudi player too, Salem [Al Dawsari], who’s also a top-class footballer.

“Other teams too, like Al Qadsiah, have Mateo Retegui, who used to play for Atalanta, so the standard is always very high. There’s [Julian] Quinones too, who’s also from Al Qadsiah.

“So that’s what I mean: the football is still at a high standard there as well, and that keeps us always ready and prepared.”

Ready and prepared sums up Ibanez. If there’s one thing you can guarantee, whether in Al Ahli green or the famous yellow of the Selecao, he will give everything he has. For it’s the only way he knows.