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BRASILIA: Brazil’s Neymar is recovering well from a calf injury and could even be available for their opening World Cup match next month, coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
Neymar was recalled to the squad this month despite not featuring in Ancelotti’s plans during the Italian’s year in charge of Brazil.
The Santos forward, who is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 79 goals in 128 international appearances, was then ruled out of warm-up games against Panama and Egypt by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) due to the calf injury on Thursday.
“Before the squad announcement, we received a report from Santos saying the player had a minor issue, some swelling. We left Santos to deal with that situation until the 27th,” Ancelotti told reporters on Saturday ahead of Brazil’s meeting with Panama.
“Neymar was called up because, from the coaching staff’s point of view, he had to be called up. After the 27th, the CBF took over Neymar’s situation, and that’s what we’ve done. We’re managing Neymar’s recovery. We believe he’ll recover as quickly as possible. He’s working well, and he’s in good spirits ... We believe he can be ready for the first World Cup match. If he’s not ready for the first match, he’ll be ready for the second. So we have absolutely no intention of replacing anyone.”
Brazil, looking to win a record-extending sixth World Cup title, will face Morocco, Haiti and Scotland in Group ‘C’ of the June 11 to July 19 tournament in North America.
Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2026
