Brazil's Undisputed Superstar? Neymar's World Cup Race Against Time
As the French winger received the 2025 Ballon d'Or in the autumn months, the Brazilian sensation was receiving treatment for his latest physical setback of the year - while participating in an online poker tournament.
The veteran football star ultimately finished as runner-up, earning around seventy-three thousand pounds in tournament winnings.
It was some consolation on a day when he had to observe the player who previously succeeded him at Barcelona receive the award he had long hoped to win.
After coming back to his boyhood club Santos in January, the experienced attacker has fallen short of expectations, drawing more attention for similar incidents than for his football.
His homecoming after a dozen campaigns away was meant to be a chance for him to rediscover his best and, most importantly, rekindle a love of football that seemed lost after disappointing periods with PSG and Al Hilal.
Instead, it has been largely underwhelming for each stakeholder.
Such is the situation that the main question being asked right now in Brazil is whether Neymar will be part of the upcoming global tournament.
He's against the clock.
"Even the stars have to prove that they are ready. The deadline approaches [for him]," Brazilian legend Tostao commented in his regular feature.
On midweek, Brazil manager the Italian tactician announced his squad for the upcoming games against South Korea and Japan and, yet again, Neymar was absent.
"The Prince", as he was dubbed when welcomed back at Santos in a reference to the legend Pelé, is still awaiting his debut under Ancelotti, having been missing from the national team for 24 months.
He also remains an fitness concern for the November games, which, in the worst scenario, will leave him with only two friendly matches in spring 2026 to demonstrate his worth to Ancelotti before the revealing of the definitive squad for the World Cup.
"For 15 years, Neymar was Brazil's undisputed star, carrying enormous expectations on his own," former AC Milan and Roma legend Cafu stated.
"But no one wins the World Cup single-handedly. Putting all our expectations on him at the moment is difficult because he has difficulty to even play multiple matches in a row."
'Omission based on skill level signals deeper issues'
Not just has Neymar had repeated injury problems since his homecoming - he's been absent for 47% of Santos' matches this season - but, when he was able to play, he was a distant from the player who during his zenith rivaled the Argentine maestro and the Portuguese icon.
Of his nine goal contributions so far, half have come against teams from lower tiers than Brazil's top flight - a goal and assist against Agua Santa, followed by a goal and two assists versus Inter de Limeira, all in the regional competition.
As Santos fight relegation in the top division, the number 10 no longer seems to be the game-changer he once was.
Despite that, Ancelotti has asserted that the forward has plenty of time to show he is ready for the World Cup.
"His goal must be to be ready in June. It doesn't matter if he's in the squad in autumn, November or March," the coach told L'Equipe newspaper.
Ancelotti created local controversy last month by allegedly attempting to shield Neymar, stating the star had been excluded from the team over fitness concerns.
But then Neymar himself challenged the claim, saying he "was excluded for tactical decisions; it has nothing to do with my fitness level."
In terms of popular view, it certainly didn't make it any better for Neymar.
"If the player we have pinned our dreams on to deliver the World Cup is left out for technical reasons, obviously there's a problem," Cafu said.
Can Neymar follow Ronaldo's 2002 example?
Polls from Datafolha found that the Brazilian public are divided over whether Neymar should be called up for his next global tournament.
With his record tally, Neymar is Brazil's all-time top scorer, but he hasn't helped his case much with his in-game attitude either.
He seems greater frustration than normal, having confronted fans multiple times in venues - it occurred in successive games in July.
The following month, the forward was emotional after Santos suffered a six-goal home defeat by Vasco da Gama - the biggest loss of his career.
When questioned by a journalist about his physical state in a game aftermath discussion, he also lost his patience: "Again with this, friend? I've answered this 500 times already."
The similar query has been posed to his parent representative Neymar Sr as well.
"Neymar's strategy was to spend a limited period at Santos. For what? To regain fitness. If Neymar managed to play, amen," he previously explained, causing anger among followers.
There's remaining optimism, however, that Neymar's prime period aren't over and that he will be able to return to prominence the same way forward Ronaldo "Phenomenon" did in the 2002 World Cup to overcome criticism and injuries to lead Brazil to the championship trophy.
The Brazilian great observes comparisons.
"He's a essential player for Brazil - there's nobody like Neymar," Ronaldo said during a recent event with the forward in Sao Paulo.
"It's an exaggeration from a minority who believe he's ignoring his physical recovery.
Those who have been in football understand completely how difficult it is to recover from an injury and restore form and self-belief. He's moving forward."
The Brazilian forward has a few decisive months ahead to show that he's not the prince who relinquished his status.
