Ancelotti confirms Neymar injury rules him out of Brazil's World Cup opener against Morocco

Neymar will play no part in Brazil’s World Cup 2026 Group C opener against Morocco at MetLife Stadium, with Carlo Ancelotti confirming the veteran forward is still recovering from injury and not yet fit to feature.

Ancelotti told reporters that Neymar is “working very hard to recover as quickly as possible” and that the expectation is he will “rejoin the group next week.” Given that timeline, Neymar’s availability for Brazil’s second group game against Haiti on Saturday, June 20 is also uncertain. The earliest realistic opportunity for the 34-year-old to appear at the tournament could be the Group C finale against Scotland on June 24.

Neymar was a somewhat surprising inclusion in Ancelotti’s squad, with established attackers Richarlison and Joao Pedro among those left out. The forward has not represented Brazil since 2023 and has endured a difficult run of injuries in recent years, but the Italy-born coach made clear his selection was about more than on-field output.

“When we call up Neymar, we call him not only for his technical quality, which is indisputable, but also for his experience and the example he can set for the young players in this group,” Ancelotti said.

Neymar has scored 79 goals for Brazil across his international career, making him the country’s all-time leading scorer. Whether he gets meaningful minutes at this tournament remains an open question, but Ancelotti’s comments suggest the coaching staff see his presence in camp as an asset in itself as Brazil pursue a sixth World Cup title.