Neymar turned 34 on Thursday, Feb. 5 — which might come across as a scary fact for those who see the Brazilian star as an eternal adolescent.
For the player, though, another number is even more scary: the FIFA World Cup is just 18 weeks away. This means that Neymar has perhaps 15 weeks to force his way into coach Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil squad. It is a race against time, and Neymar will have to run it from a standing start.
Getting his hands on the World Cup trophy is the big remaining ambition of Neymar’s long, colorful, and sometimes controversial career. Some might even see it as his chance at redemption.
This may seem a harsh judgement on Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer, on a player who has won both the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores and supplied the game with many glorious moments of individual inspiration. But in popular perception — and perhaps even in his own mind — Neymar has not lived up to all of the expectations.
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In his defense, the bar was set extremely high. Over a decade and a half ago, Neymar launched a career that was going to be judged as a letdown if he failed to win both a Ballon D’Or and a World Cup. As for the first ambition, that ship would seem to have sailed. With the second he still clings to the hope of starring in North America this summer. The dream has sustained him through hours of physiotherapy and arduous training since suffering a serious knee injury playing for his country back in October 2023.
Almost two and a half years later, there is still no convincing evidence that he has made a complete recovery. Last year’s return to Santos in Brazil turned into a prolonged exercise in frustration.
There is a suspicion that, with an eye on a national team recall last March, he forced himself through too many games too soon and paid the price. With one injury after another, Neymar never acquired any momentum. He can still strike a dead ball with precision and menace, is able to see and execute a good pass. But can he glide away from his marker and tip the balance in a top-class game? If so, he has been saving that part of his game for 2026.
There was a ray of hope in the last few days of the 2025 league season. Neymar postponed a minor knee operation to save Santos from relegation in the final three rounds. The opposition? Two already relegated sides and another team that fielded the reserves. Nothing, then, like the full-blown intensity of a World Cup match.
Since then, it has been a case of shrugging off the aftermath of that knee operation and getting himself match fit. He is now in full training and comeback time is approaching.
Thankfully, a rejig of the domestic Brazilian calendar could well have come to Neymar’s aid.
Organizing the game has never been easy in a land with the size and characteristics of Brazil. The history of Brazilian football is regional, with a separate championship for each of the 27 states that make up this giant country. But the contemporary reality is national. As the national league — only really started in 1971 — has grown in importance, the regional, state competitions have gradually lost space and importance. Thirty years ago, they took up half the year. More recently they have been confined to the first few months, with the national league getting underway in early April.
If this were still the case, then the task ahead would be tougher for Neymar. With typical charm and PR polish, national team boss Carlo Ancelotti is making a point of engaging with domestic Brazilian football. But it is likely that he has a European’s disdain for the regional competitions. He has certainly made it clear that Neymar’s case for a Brazil recall will be judged based on his displays in the national league. It is just as well, then, that this year the league has begun much earlier than usual.
The big kick-off came on Jan. 28. For a while the national league is running midweek, with the weekends given over to a shortened version of the state competitions. So right from the start of his comeback, Neymar will be able to stake his claim in meaningful matches against strong opponents.
There were hopes that he might return on Wednesday, the eve of his birthday, in the second-round tie at home to São Paulo. In the end he was not risked. The decision was taken to hold him back for the weekend. One of the dangers of a shortened state championship is that any club easing into it like a preseason can find themselves in danger of a humiliating regional relegation. Seven games without a win in all competitions, Santos find themselves in precisely this situation, and will hope Neymar can help put out the fire against relatively weak upstate opposition.
The real battleground, though, is the Brazilian league. Next Thursday’s third round takes Santos to the south to face Athletico Paranaense. Neymar might sit that one out. Athletico’s ground has a synthetic pitch, something which Neymar has been campaigning against and might see as an injury risk. The next league fixture is a post-Carnaval clash at home to Vasco da Gama — the very match where last year Neymar had to be helped off the field, wailing in despair after an astonishing 6-0 defeat. It would be a fitting stage from which to launch a comeback.
And he needs to hit the ground running — not only because time is tight, but also because Ancelotti has made a point of placing the bar high. Neymar will have to earn his place in the Brazil squad. The veteran Italian coach has become accustomed to fielding questions about Neymar, and has used his answers to make the terms of a recall very clear. There will be no room for luxury players in the squad, no space for those who can only give him 15 or 20 minutes here and there.
“Modern football does not only demand talent,” Ancelotti said late last year. “But also physical condition and intensity. If Neymar deserves to be included, if he’s playing well and is better than the alternatives, he will go to the World Cup. But only if he is 100%, not 80%.”
Assuming that Neymar can get himself fit and firing, where in the team might he feature? Ancelotti divides his attacking options into three types. There are the wingers — and Neymar is not included.
“I think he has to play centrally,” said the coach. “Not on the wing, because in modern football the wingers have to help out defensively.”
Then there are the No. 9 target-men center forwards, the likes of Richarlison, Igor Jesus and Pedro of Flamengo. Again, this does not fit Neymar’s profile.
That leaves the false nine, or what Ancelotti sees as a hybrid of a No. 9 and a No. 10 — a striker operating a little deeper, providing a passing option for the players behind him, and supplying options for those ahead. Barcelona star Raphinha could feature here. Ancelotti is clearly a big fan of Matheus Cunha, the striker who has played most in his brief reign. And Chelsea‘s João Pedro is another serious contender.
The competition, then, is stiff — and could be getting stiffer. There could be a direct battle for a squad place between Neymar and Endrick, Real Madrid‘s squat little striker who has made such an explosive start to his loan spell with Lyon.
Endrick is still only 19. He has time on his side. Neymar does not — he’s 34. And it is now or never for one final shot at World Cup glory.
