 In 2013, he publicly complained about not having an opportunity to play for the national side and claimed that "it has no criteria in the goalkeepers selection".He made the same complaints in 2014, prior to the World Cup and in 2018.Some journalists as well as the Brazilian football fans criticize his exclusion from the national team even with the alternance of coaches in the past few years (Scolari, Dunga, Tite); Fabio is the most remembered player for this continued exclusion from the national team, along with winger Lucas Moura.