Neymar's presence is becoming one of the most controversial topics before the 2026 World Cup. Under coach Carlo Ancelotti, Neymar has never played for the Brazilian national team.
In fact, the 34-year-old superstar has been absent from the national team for the past 3 years due to continuous injuries and problems related to lifestyle and physical condition.
However, since the beginning of 2025, Neymar has made efforts to save his career by returning to wear the Santos shirt. In the past year and a half, he has played quite stably with 43 appearances and scored 17 goals.
That positive form made Ancelotti reconsider the decision for the former Barcelona star. Earlier this year, the Italian strategist even revealed that he had asked Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for his opinion on the possibility of calling Neymar back to the national team.
Neymar appeared in the preliminary list of 55 players announced more than a week ago, but many sources in Brazil believe that he is unlikely to be present in the final list.
However, Ancelotti surprised at the last minute when deciding to keep Neymar, and at the same time crossed out Joao Pedro. Neymar's return brought great excitement to Brazilian fans, but the decision to eliminate Pedro caused much controversy.
The 24-year-old striker has just had an impressive season in Chelsea's colors with 20 goals after 49 appearances in all competitions. However, Joao Pedro has not shown much in Selecao's colors when he has not scored a goal after 8 matches for the national team.
In addition to Pedro, two other Chelsea players, Andrey Santos and Estevao, were also removed from the final list.
