In that club Arias recovered his performance, his joy. It went well. He played 29 games and scored two goals. In addition, he managed to return to the Colombian National Team after a long time. In 2024 he signed with Bahia in Brazil. He also had an outstanding career in that club. In the 53 games he played, he scored one score, but gave several assists. Furthermore, he became the leader of that squad.
All of this led him to earn a place among those called up by Néstor Lorenzo to the national team. national team that played the 2024 Copa América –and was a finalist. It also allowed him to be taken into account in the last qualifying matches. He was in the matches in which qualification for the World Cup was achieved. He is one of the candidates to have a place among those elected. It would be his third World Cup.
What will be the future of Santiago Arias in football before the 2026 World Cup?
Arias is an experienced footballer: he is 33 years old, of which he has dedicated 17 to professional football. The full-back debuted in 2009 with La Equidad de Bogotá – now Inter de Bogotá. He was in that club until 2011. Then he went to Sporting Lisbon and from there to the Dutch PSV, until returning to Atlético de Madrid in 2018. He was in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. In the first one he was a substitute. In the second undisputed headline.
That could be merit for them to take it to North America 2026. However, national team football is different: past merit has no weight. Here only the present is of interest, if not what was done five, six months ago. That is why now that Arias is left without a team, he must quickly look for an alternative to play at the beginning of this World Cup year.
The Antioquian footballer will not continue with Bahía de Brazil. The club confirmed it with a publication in X. “Thank you Santiago Arias! The full-back will not be present when the team returns to training, after two seasons defending the team,” said the statement, which was accompanied by a video with Arias’ best actions with that club and had as a background the song “I no longer know what to do with me” by Cuarteto de Nos.
