Brazilian head coach Tite revealed his 26-man squad for the World Cup on Monday. Arsenal pair Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli were both rewarded for their good form and made the squad, the latter replacing Roberto Firmino in the group.
However, a full list of Arsenal’s senior Brazilian contingent was missed as Gabriel Magalhaes was not selected. The 24-year-old has had a good start to the season although there have been some big errors which have come close to costing the Gunners.
He was dispossessed by Aleksandar Mitrovic against Fulham which led to the Serbian scoring before Gabriel scored the Gunners’ winner late on. He gave away a penalty by fouling compatriot Richarlison in the North London Derby before the Gunners eventually went on to win.
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Despite these issues, the World Cup dream for Gabriel is not entirely over. The FIFA ruling on potential replacements for the squad means that there remain 15 days in which the former Lille player can hold out hope.
According to the rules of the 2022 World Cup, nations can replace injured or Covid-19 positive players up to 24 hours before their first match of the tournament. Brazil are due to play Serbia on November 24 and so therefore there is just over a fortnight for a player to drop out to be replaced by Gabriel.
However, there is no guarantee that Tite would still choose the Arsenal man. Brazilian football expert Tim Vickery told Sky Sports that it had become clear that Gabriel was simply not trusted by the head coach.
“With Gabriel Magalhaes, he was in the squad for a while without playing and I think it became clear that the coach didn't trust him, or didn't trust him enough,” explained Vickery. “So, his exclusion is not a surprise.”
With players in the England squad dropping out rapidly, and a couple of domestic fixtures still to play plus pre-tournament training, there is a chance that Gabriel Magalhaes might still make the trip to Qatar. If not, he will still be in the Middle East although it will instead be in Dubai with his Arsenal teammates for their warm-weather training camp and friendlies with AC Milan and Lyon.
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