Carlo Ancelotti has recalled Neymar to the Brazil squad for another World Cup attempt, a move that puts the 34-year-old back into the frame after two years away from international football. The forward will miss Brazil’s opener against Morocco, but could return to training next week.
The timing matters because Brazil are naming their World Cup plans now, and Neymar remains the player around whom so much of the team’s recent history has turned. He has not played for Brazil since 2023, yet his place in the squad again raises the same question that has followed him for more than a decade: can he arrive fit enough to influence the tournament when it matters?
Neymar’s case still carries the weight of old disappointments. He was left out of Brazil’s squad as a teenager in 2010 despite strong popular demand. Four years later, injury robbed him of his home World Cup moment, and Brazil were crushed 7-1 by Germany in Belo Horizonte. Injury also interrupted his build-up to the 2018 tournament and again during the 2022 edition, when he scored in extra time against Croatia before the match turned in the 117th minute and Brazil went out on penalties.
This year, he has made eight appearances for Santos in the Brazilian top division, and all eight came at home. Even so, he ranks among the top 10 players in the competition for chances created per game, a sign that some of his attacking touch is still there. Ancelotti had said Neymar would only come back once he had proved he was ready, which makes the selection a notable pivot rather than a routine recall.
That contradiction is what gives the decision its edge. Brazil have brought back a player whose status is unchanged and whose availability remains limited, while leaving out Joao Pedro despite his failure to seize his own opportunities with the Selecao. Cafu, the former captain, said Neymar can be important for any team and that seeing him play well, physically and technically, can help Brazil a lot. He also backed Ancelotti as an experienced coach who knows how to build a team for this kind of competition and said he hopes the Italian can bring new energy to the five-time champions.
For now, the recall is as much an invitation as a guarantee. Neymar is in the squad, but Brazil still have to see whether training next week leads to anything more meaningful than another hopeful chapter in a career that has too often been shaped by injury before the tournament begins.
