The Brazilian Unquestioned Superstar? Neymar Jr's World Cup Race Against Time
While Ousmane Dembele received the 2025 Ballon d'Or in the autumn months, Neymar was undergoing therapy for his latest physical setback of the year - simultaneously taking part in an online poker tournament.
The veteran Brazilian ace ultimately finished as second place, earning 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 consistently dreamed to win.
Since coming back to his boyhood club Santos in January, the 33-year-old forward has fallen short of expectations, drawing more attention for comparable situations than for his on-field performances.
His return home after 12 seasons away was intended as a chance for him to regain his form and, crucially, restore a love of football that seemed gone after frustrating spells with PSG and the Saudi club.
Conversely, it has been largely underwhelming for each stakeholder.
This reflects the situation that the primary concern being asked right now in Brazil is whether Neymar will make it to the 2026 World Cup.
He's running out of time.
"Even the stars have to prove that they are prepared. The deadline approaches [for him]," Brazilian legend Tostao wrote in his regular feature.
On midweek, Brazil head coach the Italian tactician revealed his team selection for the upcoming games against Korea Republic and Japan and, once again, Neymar was not in it.
"O Principe", as he was dubbed when welcomed back at Santos in a reference to the legend Pelé, is yet to play under Ancelotti, having been missing from the Selecao 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 demonstrate his worth to Ancelotti before the revealing of the final list for the World Cup.
"For 15 years, Neymar was Brazil's unquestioned talisman, carrying enormous expectations on his own," former AC Milan and Roma legend Cafu said.
"But no one wins the World Cup alone. Placing all our hopes on him at the moment is difficult because he finds it hard to even play three games 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 return to Brazil - he's been absent for 47% of Santos' matches this season - but, when he was available for selection, he was a distant from the player who during his prime competed with the Argentine maestro and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Of his nine goal contributions so far, five have come against teams from lower tiers than Brazil's first division - a goal and assist against Agua Santa, followed by a three goal involvements versus Inter de Limeira, all in the regional competition.
As Santos fight relegation in the Brazilian first tier, the playmaker no longer seems to be the decisive factor he once was.
Nevertheless, Ancelotti has maintained that the forward has plenty of time to show he is ready for the World Cup.
"His goal must be to be prepared in summer. It doesn't matter if he's in the squad in October, November or spring," the coach told L'Equipe newspaper.
Ancelotti stirred local controversy last month by reportedly trying to shield Neymar, claiming the star had been excluded from the team over fitness concerns.
But then Neymar himself challenged the claim, saying he "was left out 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 pinned our dreams on to deliver the World Cup is excluded for performance issues, obviously issues exist," Cafu commented.
Is a Ronaldo-style comeback possible for Neymar?
Studies from a leading polling institute found that Brazilians are split over whether Neymar should be included for his fourth World Cup.
With his record tally, Neymar is Brazil's historical leading marksman, but he hasn't helped his case much with his conduct during matches either.
He seems greater frustration than usual, having confronted fans multiple times in stadiums - it happened in successive games in mid-year.
The following month, the striker was reduced to crying after Santos suffered a six-goal loss at home by Vasco da Gama - the heaviest defeat of his career.
When asked by a journalist about his fitness condition in a game aftermath discussion, he became frustrated: "Again with this, friend? I've answered this repeatedly already."
The similar query has been directed at his parent representative Neymar Sr as well.
"Neymar's strategy was to spend five months at Santos. To what end? To recover. If Neymar was able to feature, so be it," he earlier stated, causing anger among followers.
There's still a slight hope, however, that Neymar's peak years remain possible and that he will be able to revive his career the same way forward Ronaldo "FenĂ´meno" did in the 2002 World Cup to surmount skepticism and physical setbacks to lead Brazil to the World Cup title.
The Brazilian great notes parallels.
"He's a essential player for Brazil - there's no one else like Neymar," Ronaldo declared during a recent event with the forward in Sao Paulo.
"It's an misrepresentation from a minority who believe he's ignoring his fitness rehabilitation.
Those who have been in football recognize fully how hard it is to come back from an injury and recover form and self-belief. He's moving forward."
The Brazilian forward has a few decisive months ahead to prove that he's not the prince who stepped away from greatness.