In the long-awaited last call-up of the Brazilian team before defining the final list of players going to the World Cup, Carlo Ancelotti chose not to call Neymar.
With the absence of friendly matches against the French and Croatian teams, on March 26th and 31st, respectively, the possibility of the 34-year-old Santos striker playing in his fourth and final World Cup wearing the yellow shirt becomes even more remote.
The list of players going to the World Cup should be announced by the technical committee on May 19, with friendlies against European teams gaining special importance so that Ancelotti can closely observe players who do not yet have a guaranteed place in the group.
The World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada takes place between June 11th and July 19th.
Brazil is in Group C, alongside Morocco, Scotland and Haiti.
The last time Neymar played for the Brazilian team was in October 2023, in a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay in the Qualifiers at the Centenário Stadium, in Montevideo.
At the time, he suffered the most serious injury of his career, with the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and the meniscus in his left knee. The striker was sidelined for more than a year due to the physical problem.
In March 2025, back at Santos, he was called up by the team’s then coach, Dorival Júnior, for commitments against Colombia and Argentina in the qualifiers.
However, he ended up being cut a few days later because of swelling in his left thigh that had already left him out of the semi-final of the Campeonato Paulista, when Santos lost to Corinthians.
Since taking charge of the Brazilian national team in May last year, Ancelotti has not yet called up Neymar. The Italian stated on several occasions that he had no doubts regarding the striker’s technical potential, but that he needed him to be in good physical shape to be called up.
“I may take a player who doesn’t have intensity for the first or second game, but I won’t take a player who doesn’t have intensity for the entire World Cup. We need players physically at a top level”, said the coach in November 2025.
Neymar ended last season on a good note, making an important contribution in the final stretch of the Brazilian Championship to keep Santos out of the relegation zone.
Still in December, however, he needed to undergo surgery on his left knee to treat the pain in the region that he had already been feeling during the last few matches, compromising his pre-season preparation.
The debut in 2026 only took place on February 15, in a 6-0 victory over Velo Clube, in the state championship.
He returned to action on the 22nd, in the elimination against Novorizontino in the Paulista quarter-finals, and on the 26th, when he scored both goals in the 2-1 victory over Vasco, in the Brasileiro.
The technical committee’s expectation was that he would be able to play again against Mirassol, on March 10, with Carlo Ancelotti traveling to the small city in the interior of São Paulo to closely monitor his performance.
At the last minute, however, Santos informed him that he would not take the field to preserve his muscles and avoid the risk of new injuries.
In the last opportunity to show his service to the boss before the call-up, he played the 90 minutes of the duel against Corinthians on Sunday (15), at Vila Belmiro, with only a discreet performance.
Top scorer in the history of the Brazilian team with 79 goals — the last two were against Bolivia, in September 2023 —, Neymar played in the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cups. In total, he played in 13 matches, with eight goals and four assists.
Neymar’s participation with the Brazilian team in World Cups
2014 (Brazil)
Games: 5
Goals: 4
Assists: 1
Campaign: Eliminated by Germany in the semi-finals
2018 (Russia)
Games: 5
Goals: 2
Assists: 2
Campaign: Eliminated by Belgium in the quarter-finals
2022 (Qatar)
Games: 3
Goals: 2
Assists: 1
Campaign: Eliminated by Croatia in the quarter-finals
