The Brazilian Unquestioned Star? Neymar's Global Tournament Race Against Time
While Ousmane Dembele was crowned the 2025 Ballon d'Or in the autumn months, Neymar was receiving treatment for his third injury of the year - while engaging in an virtual card tournament.
The veteran football star ultimately finished as second place, earning around seventy-three thousand pounds in tournament winnings.
It was limited solace on a day when he had to witness the player who previously succeeded him at Barcelona lift the award he had long hoped to win.
After coming back to his boyhood club Santos in January, the experienced attacker has failed to live up to expectations, drawing more attention for episodes like this than for his on-field performances.
His return home after 12 seasons away was intended as a chance for him to return to peak condition and, most importantly, rekindle a passion for the game that seemed diminished after disappointing periods with Paris St-Germain and Al Hilal.
Instead, it has been generally unsatisfactory for each stakeholder.
This reflects the situation that the main question being asked right now in Brazil is whether Neymar will participate in the upcoming global tournament.
He's facing a deadline.
"All players have to demonstrate that they are prepared. The time is passing [for him]," Brazilian legend Tostao commented in his regular feature.
On midweek, Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti disclosed his squad for the forthcoming matches against South Korea and Japan and, yet again, Neymar was not in it.
"The Prince", as he was dubbed when welcomed back at Santos in a nod toward 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 autumn fixtures, which, in the worst scenario, will leave him with only two friendly matches in spring 2026 to demonstrate his worth to Ancelotti before the announcement of the definitive squad for the World Cup.
"Over a decade and a half, Neymar was Brazil's undisputed star, shouldering huge responsibility on his own," former AC Milan and Roma legend Cafu said.
"But no one wins the World Cup alone. Putting all our expectations on him at the present time 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 multiple fitness issues since his homecoming - he's been absent for 47% of Santos' matches this campaign - but, when he was able to play, he was a different to the player who during his peak dared to challenge Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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 three goal involvements versus another lower-division opponent, all in the regional competition.
As Santos fight relegation in the top division, the playmaker no longer seems to be the difference maker he once was.
Despite that, Ancelotti has maintained that the forward has plenty of time to show he is ready for the World Cup.
"His aim must be to be prepared in summer. It doesn't matter if he's in the squad in autumn, November or March," the coach told French media.
Ancelotti caused local controversy last month by allegedly attempting to shield Neymar, suggesting the star had been excluded from the team over physical condition issues.
But then Neymar himself contradicted this, saying he "was excluded for technical reasons; it has nothing to do with my physical condition."
In terms of public perception, it undoubtedly worsened the situation for Neymar.
"If the player we have invested our faith in to deliver the World Cup is excluded for technical reasons, clearly something isn't right," Cafu observed.
Can Neymar follow Ronaldo's 2002 example?
Research from Datafolha found that Brazilians are split over whether Neymar should be called up for his fourth World Cup.
With his record tally, Neymar is Brazil's historical leading marksman, but he hasn't improved his situation much with his conduct during matches either.
He seems more on edge than usual, having argued with fans multiple times in venues - it happened in successive games in July.
The next month, the forward was left in tears after Santos endured a six-goal loss at home by their rivals - the biggest loss of his professional life.
When questioned by a journalist about his fitness condition in a post-match interview, he also lost his patience: "Again with this, mate? I've answered this 500 times already."
The identical inquiry has been posed to his parent representative Neymar Sr as well.
"Neymar's strategy was to remain for a limited period at Santos. For what? To regain fitness. If Neymar managed to play, amen," he previously explained, causing anger among fans.
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 forward Ronaldo "Phenomenon" did in the 2002 World Cup to surmount skepticism and injuries to guide Brazil to the championship trophy.
The Brazilian great sees similarities.
"He's a essential player for Brazil - there's no one else like Neymar," Ronaldo stated during a recent event with the forward in the Brazilian city.
"It's an overstatement from a minority 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 restore rhythm and confidence. He's progressing well."
The Santos star has a critical period ahead to demonstrate that he's not the heir who relinquished his status.
