The Brazilian Unquestioned Superstar? Neymar's World Cup Race Against Time
While the French winger received the 2025 Ballon d'Or in late September, Neymar was undergoing therapy for his third injury of the year - simultaneously engaging in an virtual card tournament.
The veteran Brazilian ace ultimately finished as second place, collecting around seventy-three thousand pounds in tournament winnings.
It was partial comfort on a day when he had to watch the player who once replaced him at Barcelona lift the award he had long hoped to win.
Since coming back to his boyhood club Santos in January, the 33-year-old forward has fallen short of expectations, attracting more attention for comparable situations than for his football.
His homecoming after a dozen campaigns away was intended as a chance for him to regain his form and, most importantly, revive a love of football that seemed lost after frustrating spells with Paris St-Germain and Al Hilal.
Instead, it has been largely underwhelming for each stakeholder.
Such is the situation that the key issue being asked right now in Brazil is whether Neymar will be part of the upcoming global tournament.
He's against the clock.
"All players have to demonstrate that they are fit. The clock is ticking [for him]," 1970 World Cup-winner Tostao wrote in his regular feature.
On Wednesday, Brazil manager the Italian tactician disclosed his squad for the forthcoming matches against South Korea and the Asian nation and, once again, Neymar was not in it.
"O Principe", as he was dubbed when received at Santos in a reference to the legend Pelé, is yet to play under Ancelotti, having been missing from the national team for 24 months.
He continues to be an injury doubt for the autumn fixtures, which, in the most pessimistic outlook, will leave him with only two exhibition games in March 2026 to prove himself to Ancelotti before the revealing of the final list for the World Cup.
"For 15 years, Neymar was Brazil's unquestioned talisman, bearing huge responsibility on his own," Brazilian icon Cafu stated.
"But nobody wins the World Cup alone. Placing all our expectations on him at the moment is problematic because he has difficulty to even play multiple matches in a row."
'If Neymar is left out for technical reasons, something isn't right'
Not only has Neymar had repeated injury problems since his homecoming - he's missed nearly half of Santos' matches this campaign - but, when he was able to play, he was a far cry from the player who during his peak competed with the Argentine maestro and the Portuguese icon.
Of his several attacking returns so far, half have come against teams from divisions below Brazil's top flight - a scoring contribution against a lower-league side, followed by a three goal involvements versus another lower-division opponent, all in the Sao Paulo State Championship.
As Santos battle against demotion in the Brazilian first tier, the number 10 no longer seems to be the decisive factor he once was.
Despite that, Ancelotti has insisted that the forward has sufficient months to show he is fit for the World Cup.
"His objective must be to be prepared in summer. It doesn't matter if he's in the squad in autumn, November or spring," the Italian told L'Equipe newspaper.
Ancelotti created local discussion last month by reportedly trying to protect Neymar, stating the star had been excluded from the team over physical condition issues.
But then Neymar himself contradicted this, saying he "was left out for technical reasons; it has no connection to my fitness level."
In terms of fan opinion, it definitely didn't help for Neymar.
"If the player we have invested our faith in to win the World Cup is excluded for technical reasons, obviously issues exist," Cafu observed.
Will Neymar be capable of emulating Ronaldo in 2002?
Research from Datafolha found that the Brazilian public are split over whether Neymar should be called up for his fourth World Cup.
With his 79 goals, Neymar is Brazil's historical leading marksman, but he hasn't improved his situation much with his behaviour on the pitch either.
He seems more on edge than usual, having exchanged words with fans multiple times in venues - it occurred in successive games in July.
The following month, the forward was emotional after Santos suffered a 6-0 loss at home by Vasco da Gama - the heaviest defeat of his career.
When questioned by a reporter about his fitness condition in a game aftermath discussion, he also lost his patience: "This topic again, friend? I've responded to this 500 times already."
The identical inquiry has been posed to his father and agent 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, so be it," he previously explained, causing anger among supporters.
There's remaining optimism, however, that Neymar's peak years aren't over and that he will be able to resurrect his form the same way striker Ronaldo "Phenomenon" did in the 2002 World Cup to surmount criticism and injuries to guide Brazil to the World Cup title.
The former Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan legend notes parallels.
"He's a vital player for Brazil - there's no one else like Neymar," Ronaldo said during a recent event with the forward in Sao Paulo.
"It's an misrepresentation from a small group who believe he's disregarding his physical recovery.
Those who have been in football knows perfectly how difficult it is to recover from an setback and regain form and self-belief. He's progressing well."
The Santos star has a critical period ahead to demonstrate that he's not the prince who stepped away from greatness.
