Will Neymar participate in his fourth World Cup in June? Will Brazil’s most outstanding player in the last 15 years be called up by Carlo Ancelotti for the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico?
Both those who like and those who dislike Neymar will ask these questions day after day, exhaustively until the moment when the Italian super coach, at the head of the Brazilian team since May 26, 2025, announces the 26 names that will seek the sixth.
Ancelotti’s call-up for the World Cup should only take place in May. He will make potentially decisive observations, up close, in March’s friendlies against France and Croatia.
If Neymar does not appear in the squad for these matches, there will be a strong understanding that the number 10 (at Paris Saint-Germain, Al-Hilal and Santos) will not go to the World Cup.
So far, Carleto has drawn up four squad lists, two for four games in the South American qualifiers and two for four friendlies. Neymar was not in them, but the coach indicated that the absence was only because the player was not 100% physically.
The striker, plagued by injuries, has not been in perfect physical condition for a long time. It’s been almost three years since he’s had a lot of difficulty maintaining a streak of games.
His most serious problems were his right ankle (surgery in March 2023), at PSG, and his right knee (surgery in November 2023), at Al-Hilal. The latter, necessary due to the rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament, kept him away from games for more than a year.
Later, both in the Saudi team (end of 2024) and in Santos (2025), less serious injuries, muscular (thigh), prevented him from playing consistently.
A few days ago, before Christmas, he underwent another surgical intervention, an arthroscopy, in order to correct a meniscus injury in his left knee.
This history makes Neymar, in football jargon, a “rotten” player: no matter how hard he tries, he cannot perform what he wants – physically, he is compromised.
But, technically, he remains excellent. Hence the discussion about whether or not it is essential for the selection remains in vogue.
Contrary to what Ancelotti thinks and demands, if I were coach of the national team, I would take Neymar to the World Cup if he was in minimum playing condition: 20 to 30 minutes per match at a level of excellence.
It’s better to have a star who can, in an individual play, decide a game, be it with a goal, an assist, a construction of a play, or a set piece – Neymar is capable of all of this –, than one more good player (a Joelinton, a Luiz Henrique, a Samuel Lino).
The next few weeks, when football in Brazil will resume with the state tournaments (Paulista starts on January 10th) and the Brazilian Championship (starting on the 28th), will be a thermometer to evaluate Neymar.
To have a chance of going to the World Cup, he will need to play a lot, on two fronts: quality, which shouldn’t be difficult, and quantity, without getting injured again, which is a tremendous challenge.
It should be noted that his contract with Santos has just been renewed. It will run until the end of this year.
With the World Cup approaching, shining at the club that revealed him – at Paulista, in the Brasileiro, in the Copa-Sul-Americana and in the Copa do Brasil – is the best way to impress Ancelotti and return to the national team.
LINK PRESENT: Did you like this text? Subscribers can access seven free accesses from any link per day. Just click the blue F below.
