With six months remaining until the kickoff of the 2026 World Cup, Brazilian superstar Neymar Jr. finds himself under growing pressure. Coach Carlo Ancelotti is expected to finalize Brazil’s squad after two friendly matches in March, potentially shortening the six-month window Neymar has to prove his fitness and form. Ancelotti’s recent statements have raised questions about whether the 33-year-old forward will make the final list.
Ancelotti Sets the Conditions for Neymar’s Selection
Speaking after the World Cup draw at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Ancelotti said,
“𝑰𝒇 𝑵𝒆𝒚𝒎𝒂𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅, 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒐𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝑰𝑭𝑨 𝒇𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉.”
Brazil, five-time World Cup champions, have been drawn in Group C alongside Morocco, Haiti, and Scotland. Despite the relatively manageable group, Ancelotti remains focused on preparing a competitive and cohesive team.
Neymar’s Injury Woes Continue
Neymar has been battling an ACL injury since October 2023 and has only recently returned to play with Santos. Despite medical advice to rest, he has featured in consecutive matches, even scoring a hat-trick in the latest game, demonstrating his determination to lead his club and avoid relegation.
However, Ancelotti emphasized that individual brilliance will not guarantee selection:
“𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚—𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑪𝒖𝒑.”
Brazil’s World Cup Ambitions
Regarding the group stage, Ancelotti remained confident in Brazil’s chances:
“𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓: 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑻𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍, 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔.”
Brazil’s preparation in the upcoming months will be crucial, both for Neymar and the squad as a whole, as the nation aims to reclaim World Cup glory in 2026.
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