Ancelotti's Neymar pick for Brazil: an act of faith that could reap rewards
Carlo Ancelotti devoted his longest answer in Rio de Janeiro to the only question Brazilian football still really wanted to ask: would Neymar make the cut? Naming his 26-man World Cup squad, the Italian acknowledged that the forward managed just 1,182 minutes of club football for Santos in the past eight months — barely half the workload of the European stars on his list. He chose him anyway.
Ancelotti's case is not sentimental. Brazil have looked elaborate but blocked in the final third across their last three warm-ups, with Vinicius Junior on the left, Rodrygo on the right and Endrick through the middle. What the manager argues he lacks is a central creator capable of breaking the line with a single touch. "I cannot find this profile in anyone else," Ancelotti told reporters.
Neymar's recent physical numbers explain the caution. Per Santos' tracking, he covered just 240 minutes over the last eight weeks, leaving the field early in three matches. His sprint counts and high-speed running metres are around 35 per cent below his 2024 peaks. Brazil's medical staff have flown in conditioning consultants from Italy and Spain to run an individualised twice-daily programme at the team's Niterói camp.
The Brazilian football federation (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues publicly stood behind the choice. "Ancelotti builds his squad, we do not interfere with technical decisions," he said. National football programmes, however, are split. On Globo's SporTV viewer panel, 52 per cent of respondents voted for Neymar's inclusion against 48 per cent in favour of alternatives such as Antony, João Pedro or Estêvão Willian.
Ancelotti's pitch plan also reflects how he intends to manage the load. Drawing on his Real Madrid years rotating Luka Modric across competitions, he is sketching out a tiered usage of Neymar in the group stage: roughly 60 minutes against Honduras in San Pedro Sula, a 30-minute substitute appearance against Norway in Vancouver, and a fuller starting role in the third match against Mexico if qualification is already secure. In the knockouts the calibration is meant to peak for semifinal and final.
The structural surprise of the squad came in midfield, with the Atalanta playmaker Ederson — namesake but not the Manchester City goalkeeper — joining Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton in a four-man rotation. The shared name has already produced hours of social-media confusion. Marquinhos retains the captaincy at the back, with Éder Militão returning to right centre-back after his recovery from cruciate surgery.
Neymar's career arc weighs on the decision. He is 32, scorer of 79 international goals — ahead of Pelé — yet his last three World Cups were each defined by injury or being eclipsed: ankle damage in 2014, the foot in 2018, ligament trouble in 2022. "The mileage from three World Cups," Ancelotti said, "means a player has to prepare for the fourth in a different way."
There is a commercial dimension too. The CBF's sponsor portfolio has gained roughly 12 per cent in annual value with Neymar present, with one major sports apparel deal and a Brazilian telecom contract reportedly conditioning their commitments on his selection. Ancelotti's sporting argument stands on its own, but the federation's financial layer is not invisible either.
Brazil open their World Cup in San Pedro Sula against Honduras, before flying to Vancouver to face Norway. Ancelotti plans to give Neymar a full first half against Honduras, then split the load with Vinicius Junior against Norway. The third group game in Guadalajara against Mexico is where the rotation framework will reveal itself once the path through to the knockouts is mathematically clearer.
After the announcement Ancelotti reduced his approach to a single line: "Even if Neymar cannot do a 90-minute miracle, the 60 minutes we want from him can change the opponent's shape." For Brazilian football the question has stopped being whether Neymar belongs in the squad. It has shifted to which fixture, and in which role. The answer will take shape over the months remaining before the opening whistle.