{"id":744,"date":"2026-05-18T22:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T22:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=744"},"modified":"2026-05-18T22:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T22:06:16","slug":"neymar-picked-for-brazils-world-cup-squad-despite-doubts-on-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=744","title":{"rendered":"Neymar picked for Brazil’s World Cup squad despite doubts on fitness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
A fan poses with a poster of Brazilian soccer player Neymar, reading in Portuguese \u201cGo Neymar, our hope for a sixth World Cup title\u201d before Brazil\u2019s 2026 World Cup squad is announced, in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Bruna Prado)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

RIO DE JANEIRO \u2014 Neymar made Brazil\u2019s World Cup squad on Monday, a selection many local analysts and former footballers deemed unlikely only days ago. The striker will appear at his fourth World Cup.<\/p>

Read more The Republican senators speaking out against Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

The 34-year-old Neymar is Brazil\u2019s all-time top goal-scorer with 79 but has struggled to return to top fitness since he tore his left ACL in October 2023. He\u2019s played eight matches for Santos this year with four goals and two assists.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has improved his fitness, he will be an important player in this World Cup,\u201d Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

The coach added he preferred experienced players for some spots in his squad, including Neymar.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can still improve his fitness until the first match of the World Cup,\u201d Ancelotti said. \u201cHe has experience in this kind of competition, the love of our group, he can create a better environment in this group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly before Ancelotti\u2019s squad was announced, Neymar changed his Instagram bio in a revealing way; he had only Santos as a reference of where he is currently playing and added Brazil to it.<\/p>\n

Brazil\u2019s 26-man squad also features its main players in recent years, Vinicius J\u00fanior and Raphinha.<\/p>

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Ancelotti who took over in May 2025<\/a> but had not summoned Neymar until Monday.<\/p>\n

He extended his contract with the Brazilian Football Confederation last week to the 2030 World Cup but he has had a troubled spell in Brazil so far with many injured players out of his World Cup squad; strikers Rodrygo and Estevao are the ones he will miss the most in North America.<\/p>\n

Brazil opens its World Cup campaign against Morocco in New Jersey on June 13, followed by Haiti and Scotland in Group C.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Brazil<\/p>\n

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Fenerbahce), Weverton (Gremio)<\/p>\n

Defenders: Alex Sandro, Danilo, Leo Pereira (Flamengo), Bremer (Juventus), Ibanez (Al-Ahli), Wesley (Roma), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal), Douglas Santos (Zenit St. Petersburg)<\/p>\n

Midfielders: Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle), Casemiro (Manchester United), Danilo Santos (Botafogo), Fabinho (Al-Ittihad), Lucas Paqueta (Flamengo)<\/p>\n

Forwards: Endrick (Lyon), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Igor Thiago (Brentford), Matheus Cunha (Manchester United), Raphinha (Barcelona), Vinicius J\u00fanior (Real Madrid), Luiz Henrique (Zenit St. Petersburg), Neymar (Santos), Rayan (Bournemouth).<\/p>

Read more Trump says he\u2019s called off an attack on Iran to give talks more time<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neymar has made Brazil\u2019s World Cup squad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNeymar picked for Brazil's World Cup squad despite doubts on fitness - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=744\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neymar picked for Brazil's World Cup squad despite doubts on fitness - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Neymar has made Brazil\u2019s World Cup squad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=744\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-18T22:06:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d6166d3c87f94c3ee82c0afb8f1a98af-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=744#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=744\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Neymar picked for Brazil’s World Cup squad despite doubts on fitness\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-18T22:06:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=744\"},\"wordCount\":468,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=744#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/d6166d3c87f94c3ee82c0afb8f1a98af-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=744#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=744\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=744\",\"name\":\"Neymar picked for Brazil's World Cup squad despite doubts on fitness - 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