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The last time Neymar appeared in a Brazil uniform, well, at least it was a classic Brazil uniform. Sunshine yellow jersey, deep blue shorts, what that team always should look like. That was the only thing about the moment he might wish to remember.
On that occasion, in an early World Cup qualifier against Uruguay in October 2023, he tore the ACL in his left knee while attempting to avoid a defender’s challenge. That cost him more than a year of club soccer, and it clearly loosened his grip on a national team that revolved almost entirely around him as recently as four years ago.
That moment seemed like it might have finished him, but it did not. Head coach Carlo Ancelotti’s roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup revealed Monday included the 34-year-old playmaker, an announcement that drew such a resounding cheer from the assembled audience, there was an interruption in the presentation that lasted close to a minute.
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Neymar has made just eight appearances for Santos in Brazil’s Serie A but has been playing regularly since early April. There can be a value to his presence, but if he’s more than a substitute or emergency replacement, Ancelotti risks encountering the same issues as his recent predecessors.
Ancelotti had not called him in for the March exhibitions Brazil played against France and Croatia, so we expected his exclusion for the World Cup. Even with Neymar returning, though, it’s past time for the biggest current name on the roster, Vinicius Jr., to at last become the player he ought to be for Brazil, capable of carrying his home nation to its once-customary position of glory.
Neymar’s career with Brazil has been historic. He is the nation’s career goals leader with 79, ahead of such legends as Pele (77), Ronaldo (62) and Romario (55). He ranks second in caps with 128, behind the great Cafu and ahead of Dani Alves, Roberto Carlos and Thiago Silva. He is the only attacking player in the top eight in that category.
And yet Brazil rarely have been extraordinary with Neymar in the lineup. The last of their five World Cup titles was won eight years before Neymar made his first appearance. At the 2014 World Cup that was contested in his home country, he perhaps reached the peak of his national team career with a two-goal performance against Croatia that erased a teammate’s own goal and produced a memorable opening night for the host city Sao Paulo. He did not score in the knockout rounds, however, and missed Germany’s 7-1 semifinal destruction of Brazil with a back injury.
He never has played in a World Cup game beyond the quarterfinals. He missed the only Copa America that Brazil has won since his national team career began. And it was obvious at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar his teammates had become far too deferential to him, ignoring opportunities to put other players in advantageous positions in order to feed the ball to Neymar, and sometimes even making improper strategic decisions to assure he was in control. That can’t continue, regardless of the role he is granted by the coaching staff.
Vini Jr. twice has won the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid and three times has won the championship of Spain’s La Liga. He has produced 129 goal contributions in 279 appearances for his club. He finished second in the voting for the prestigious Ballon d’Or trophy presented to the top men’s player in the world in 2024, when he scored six goals in 10 appearances in gaining a second Champions League gold medal.
Obviously, that was not a World Cup year.
The most popular sporting event in the world is going to matter to Ballon d’Or voters, and Vini’s Brazil performances historically have not been anything approaching world class. He has made 47 appearances for his country, 37 of those starts, and produced 8 goals.
One can argue building the team around Neymar’s creative skill for so long – perhaps too long, ultimately – was among the reasons Vinicius Jr.’s national team excellence has been delayed so long. In fact, I have.
That’s not an excuse for Vini’s performance, or Brazil’s, in the nearly three years since Neymar last suited up for his country. Brazil finished fifth in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying, producing only 24 goals across 18 games. Four years ago, before the World Cup expanded to 48 teams, such a performance would have required Brazil to win an intercontinental playoff series to advance to the main tournament. There now are six spots assured to South America, so Brazil was safe. Still it was kind of embarrassing.
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Vinicius Jr. scored the goal against Paraguay that clinched his team’s spot in the tournament, and he scored in the ninth minute of added time in a crucial victory against Colombia. Since taking over the team a year ago, Ancelotti has worked to get his star involved more centrally, to maximize his involvement; Vini Jr. has commonly played on the left wing for Madrid.
“Vinicius has the quality to score many goals,” Ancelotti told Brazilian publication Placar last autumn. “I've spoken to him: 'Look, when you're playing as a winger, to score goals you have to do three or four dribbles. Touch the ball seven or eight times. And in the center, just one well-timed movement is enough to score a goal.' He understood it; he likes playing in that position."
He is not the only Brazil player with a chance to emerge. Joao Pedro showed what a special player he can be in helping Chelsea win last summer’s Club World Cup in the United States. At 29, Raphinha is looking at perhaps his last great moment to achieve something special with Brazil.
Neymar still is with them, and he cares enough about Brazil to provide leadership, direction and possibly a creative spark or two. The younger stars need to play with the knowledge that Neymar no longer owns the ball. This is Brazil’s chance to turn to the next chapter, which can’t be any less engaging than the one just finished.
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