Neymar's Uncertain Role in Brazil's World Cup Journey

Neymar watches, Brazil waits. For now, the country’s record goalscorer is back on the training pitch but still on the outside looking in.

The 34-year-old only rejoined full training with the Brazil squad at the World Cup in the United States this week after a right calf injury, yet Carlo Ancelotti is refusing to be swayed by reputation. Neymar missed the opening 1-1 draw with Morocco and has again been left out of the matchday group for Friday’s second game against Haiti.

For a player with 79 goals for his country, it is an unfamiliar role: present, but not really there.

That theme was picked up, with a sting, by Brazil’s legendary former striker Lula. When a young boy mentioned Neymar’s name during a ceremony at a hospital in Belo Horizonte, the 80-year-old needed only a second to land his punchline.

“Neymar? He is not even playing!” he snapped back, before twisting the knife with another quip: Neymar, he joked, is the first Brazil international “working remotely”.

Lula has been in playful mood since the Morocco draw, even teasing on Wednesday that he was considering signing Lionel Messi to play for Brazil. The humour masks a more serious undercurrent: the national team is trying to move through a World Cup with its biggest star reduced to a question mark.

Neymar’s body has forced the issue. Diagnosed in late May with a calf problem, the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward has played only half of Santos’ games this year as one fitness concern has followed another. His inclusion in Ancelotti’s World Cup squad raised eyebrows across Brazil, not because of his talent, but because of his durability.

Brazilian media report that Ancelotti and his staff do not want to gamble now and lose him later. They are determined not to rush the all-time top scorer back, wary that one reckless decision in June could cost them in the knockout rounds.

There was at least a flicker of progress this week. On Wednesday, Neymar trained with his teammates for the first time at this tournament, a small but symbolic step for a player who has not appeared for Brazil since October 2023.

He has been central to Brazil’s last three World Cup campaigns, the face on every billboard and the name on every back. This time, the story feels different. The squad is learning to live without him on the pitch, while the coaching staff weigh up when – or even whether – to hand him the stage again.

Brazil close their group stage against Scotland in Miami on June 24. By then, the question will be unavoidable: is Neymar just a famous spectator, or does this World Cup still have room for one more act from its most fragile superstar?