The decision for Gabriel to not join up with the Brazilian national side speaks volumes about the learnings from a major injury in November
12:31, 24 Mar 2026
Gabriel Magalhaes will not join up with Brazil as Arsenal avoid risking major injury repeat
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Gabriel Magalhaes will not join up with Brazil as Arsenal avoid risking major injury repeat(Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Gabriel Magalhaes has withdrawn from the Brazilian national side and will remain with Arsenal over this current international break. The centre-half, therefore, will not need to travel across the Atlantic to the United States, where the Selecao were due to face France and Croatia in Massachusetts and Florida, respectively.
The action has drawn attention after Gabriel started and played the full 90-plus minutes against Manchester City in the League Cup final defeat. The CBF released a statement on Monday.
They said: "Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães is out of the friendlies against France and Croatia. Following the match this Sunday (22) against Manchester City in the final of the English League Cup, the player complained of pain in his right knee.
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"Imaging scans confirmed that Gabriel Magalhães is not fit for the matches in this FIFA international window. No other player will be called up to replace him."
Gabriel joins Eberechi Eze, William Saliba, Jurrien Timber and Leandro Trossard who have all also pulled out from their international duties. However, Ben White, who had initially not been called up to represent England has since been included and will be with Thomas Tuchel’s squad.
The decision for Gabriel not to risk any potential worsening of a problem makes sense. The defender missed several weeks after suffering an adductor issue after playing in a friendly in November against Senegal.
football.london spoke to Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti after the match and asked if there was anything he could say at the time to ease the fears of Arsenal supporters.
"I don’t know, he had a problem with his adductor, the medical staff have to check tomorrow,” he replied.
"We are really sorry for this, really disappointed. When players have an injury, I hope they can recover well and soon."
It emerged that Gabriel had not completed the full session in the days before the Brazil game, making the reaction to the news of a significant injury even more frustrating. football.london understands that there was certainly frustration at the club that Gabriel had started the non-competitive match, which naturally worsened when the injury was then suffered.
Arsenal would drop points against Chelsea and Aston Villa during his absence, five points which would put the Gunners out of sight if added to their already nine-point lead over Manchester City.
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Gabriel has a huge passion for his country and takes serious pride in representing the Selecao. This would not have been a decision taken lightly and would have been made to prioritise both his availability for Arsenal in the run-in and for Brazil at the World Cup in the summer.
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