Thiago Silva still holding out hope for Brazil national team recall

Ageless wonder Thiago Silva has remained a key player for Chelsea even as most of his teammates are now practically half his age, but the same cannot be said for the Brazilian national team.

In fact, the legendary defender who is fifth on the all-time appearances list for the Seleção, hasn’t been called up at all since the 2022 World Cup where Brazil lost on penalties in the quarterfinals to Croatia. It’s his longest hiatus since a twelve-month absence from September 2015 to September 2016.

But Brazil’s somewhat mixed run of results this calendar year — just 3 wins from 7, including friendlies — have led to some calls for Silva’s return. While the team’s qualification for the 2026 World Cup is hardly in doubt, even under the current interim management, they’ve conceded 11 goals across those seven games and went without a win during the last break after a 1-1 draw against Venezuela and a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay.

Should they give him a call, Silva would of course have his bags packed before they had even hung up.

“I leave it open and I leave it up to them. I’m not going to say that I’m out of the Seleção. If they want to call me up for the Copa América or the World Cup qualifiers to help in any way, I’m available. If they want me for what I’m showing for Chelsea, I’m here. I will always have my doors open for the Seleção.”

“I guess my absence makes sense, [but] I can’t say that I don’t want to be called up any more. If I have the opportunity to help these young people, I am available. I think you can never refuse the Seleção when it comes calling. [...] Regardless of the area you are in, especially in this process of renewal and arrival of a new coach, it is a new way of playing, If I can help I will certainly be there. I just don’t want to get in the way.”

“Today I am [in a condition] to help. Some say that Thiago won’t get to the World Cup. But the World Cup is far away. The moment now is not about playing in the World Cup. Now is the time to qualify. If you play poorly in the qualifiers no one from Brazil gets to go to the World Cup.”

-Thiago Silva; source: Guardian

When Silva joined Chelsea now over three years ago, he set participation in the 2022 World Cup as a primary goal. That already sounded far-fetched at the time, but he proved us all quite wrong. So perhaps we shouldn’t bet against him still kicking it in 2026 — and perhaps filling that World Cup void in his trophy cabinet right at the very end.