Brazil’s 2026 World Cup Hopes: A Nation With High Expectations — Will Neymar Show?

MIAMI — On June 24, Brazil plays Scotland at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. For the city’s enormous Brazilian community — from Brickell to Aventura to Doral — it will be one of the most emotionally charged nights this stadium has ever hosted. The flags are ready. The jerseys are pressed. The only question that dominates every conversation in Brazilian households across South Florida right now is the same one consuming every sports bar in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro: Will Neymar be there?

The answer, as of today, is: nobody knows. And that is precisely what makes this the most compelling story in Brazilian football heading into the summer.

What We Know Now

Neymar Jr. has not played for Brazil since October 2023. In November of that year, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay — an injury so severe that it required complete reconstruction and kept him out of football for over a year.

He returned to Santos, his hometown club, earlier this year, and has been fighting ever since to rebuild the form and fitness that would convince Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti to include him in the 26-man squad being finalized on May 18.

Ancelotti has been direct about his conditions. “He has two months to show he still has the qualities to play in the next World Cup,” the Italian manager said. “I believe he can return to 100 percent. I’ve said it before, and it is very clear: I will only call up players who are physically ready. After his knee injury, Neymar has recovered well — he is scoring goals. He needs to continue in that direction and improve his fitness. He is on the right track.”

Right track. Two months. Those words define everything.

The Case For

The statistical argument for Neymar is not trivial. With 79 goals in 128 senior international appearances, he remains Brazil’s all-time leading scorer. No one in the history of the Seleção has scored more. When fit and available, his ability to change a match — to create something from nothing, to draw fouls in dangerous positions, to deliver the pass nobody else sees — remains genuinely world-class.

At the club level, the numbers have been encouraging. Neymar delivered 12 goal contributions in his last 10 appearances for Santos, including decisive performances in which he drove both goals in a 2-0 victory over Remo. He has looked, in patches, like the player Brazil’s fans remember — technically brilliant, physically mobile, and capable of making opponents look ordinary.

The public appetite for his return is real and impossible to ignore. During Brazil’s 2-1 defeat to France in Boston, fans in the stadium chanted Neymar’s name — a spontaneous expression of longing that Ancelotti acknowledged with characteristic pragmatism, noting that he is aware of Neymar’s talent and that public sentiment is part of the conversation.

Even the president of Brazil has weighed in. Lula confirmed that Ancelotti reached out to him directly to ask: “Do you think Neymar should be called up?” Lula’s answer was simple:

“If he’s physically fit, he’s got the football.”

The Case Against

The case against Neymar is equally real, and Ancelotti knows it better than anyone.
The fundamental problem is not talent — it never has been. The problem is time. Neymar will turn 34 in February 2026. He had ACL surgery in November 2023, followed by arthroscopic knee surgery in December 2025. He missed the opening 10 matches of Santos’s season following the second knee surgery and was left out of the squad several times due to fitness concerns and suspension.

In a tournament that runs for 39 days across North America, with matches every three or four days for the teams that go deep, a player operating at 70 or 80 percent fitness is a risk that compounds with every round.

Beyond fitness, there is the deeper structural question. Brazil’s attacking depth is extraordinary. Ancelotti already has Vinicius Jr., Raphinha, Endrick, Luiz Henrique, Igor Thiago, Gabriel Martinelli, Estêvão, and Vitor Roque competing for attacking positions. The national team has already demonstrated its willingness to move forward without relying solely on its biggest star.

A new generation of Brazilian strikers has arrived, and it has arrived ready.

The Referee Controversy

Just when Neymar’s push appeared to be gaining momentum, he created a fresh problem for himself.

After Santos’s 2-0 win over Remo — a match in which Neymar was decisive — he directed pointed remarks at referee Sávio Pereira Sampaio, saying: “I think he woke up in a bad mood today (the comments have been interpreted as a misogynistic quip) and came to the match in that state. He wants to be the star of the match — he’s incredibly disrespectful to the players.”

The language used drew immediate backlash. Brazilian football authorities are reviewing the incident, and reports suggest Neymar could face a suspension ranging from five to 12 matches. A similar incident involving a different player — who made comparable comments toward a female referee — resulted in a 12-game ban under existing federation rules.

If the maximum ban is applied, Neymar would miss up to 12 Santos matches before the World Cup begins. Santos has approximately 17 games left before the tournament. A 12-game suspension would reduce his remaining competitive appearances to roughly five — barely enough to demonstrate the physical readiness Ancelotti has made his non-negotiable condition.

The timing could not be worse. The suspension ruling out Neymar from the Santos vs. Flamengo match at the Maracanã — one of the highest-profile fixtures in the Brazilian calendar and widely viewed as a key audition opportunity — removed exactly the kind of stage where a decisive performance would have most influenced Ancelotti’s thinking.

What it Would Mean for Miami

For South Florida’s Brazilian community, the Neymar question is not just about fútbol. It is about closure. About watching the greatest Brazilian player of his generation — the man who succeeded Pelé and Ronaldo as the face of the Seleção — get one last chance on the biggest stage in the sport.

Brazil plays in Miami on June 24 against Scotland. If Neymar is in the squad, Hard Rock Stadium will witness something that transcends the result on the scoresheet. If he is not — if the knee, the suspensions, and Ancelotti’s ruthless fitness calculus combine to leave him in Santos while his teammates fly north — Miami’s Brazilian community will watch that match with a specific kind of absence, a missing piece that no combination of Vinicius, Raphinha, and Endrick can entirely fill.

Ancelotti announces his squad on May 18. Neymar has exactly 31 days.

Sociedad Media covers the 2026 FIFA World Cup through the eyes of Miami’s Latin American community. Tips and firsthand accounts: info@sociedadmedia.com