SAO PAULO: Brazilian great Ronaldo has called on the Selecao’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti to restore Neymar to the squad for the World Cup in North America next year.

Brazil’s record goalscorer with 79 goals from 128 matches, Neymar has not pulled on the yellow jersey since October 2023, when he suffered a serious knee injury.

The 33-year-old has played regularly for Sao Paulo side Santos since he returned to his first club in January following a fruitless spell in Saudi Arabia with Al Hilal.

Even so, in his four matches in charge, Ancelotti has not called up Neymar.

“He is a decisive player for the Brazilian Selecao. We don’t have another player like Neymar,” Ronaldo, who twice won the World Cup with Brazil, said during a publicity event in Sao Paulo alongside his compatriot.

“The people hope 100 percent that he will go to the World Cup because if he is there, we will definitely have better results than if he’s not there,” added Ronaldo, 49, who scored 62 goals in 99 Brazil games.

Neymar has been injury-plagued in the last few years and missed Brazil’s Copa America triumph on home soil in 2019.

He joined Al Hilal from Paris St-Germain in August 2023 but after playing just five times and scoring one goal, he ruptured his cruciate knee ligament on international duty against Uruguay.

He was out of action for a year and would play only two more games for the Saudi side before leaving for Santos.

After leaving Neymar out of his squad for World Cup qualifiers in September, Ancelotti said that he “needs to get in better shape to help the national team and to give the best of himself at the World Cup.”

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2025