The Brazilian Undisputed Star? Neymar's Global Tournament Race Against Time

As Ousmane Dembele was crowned the 2025 Ballon d'Or in late September, Neymar was receiving treatment for his third injury of the year - simultaneously taking part in an online poker tournament.

The 33-year-old football star ultimately finished as second place, earning around £73,800 in prize money.

It was limited solace on a day when he had to witness the player who once replaced him at Barcelona receive the award he had long hoped to win.

Since coming back to his youth team Santos in the new year, the 33-year-old forward has fallen short of expectations, attracting more attention for episodes like this than for his on-field performances.

His homecoming after a dozen campaigns away was intended as a chance for him to return to peak condition and, most importantly, rekindle a love of football that seemed diminished after disappointing periods with PSG and the Saudi club.

Conversely, it has been generally unsatisfactory for everyone concerned.

This reflects the situation that the key issue being asked right now in Brazil is if Neymar will participate in the upcoming global tournament.

He's against the clock.

On midweek, Brazil head coach the Italian tactician announced his squad for the forthcoming matches against Korea Republic and Japan and, once again, Neymar was absent.

"O Principe", as he was dubbed when received at Santos in a nod toward the legend Pelé, is yet to play under Ancelotti, having been absent from the national team for 24 months.

He continues to be an fitness concern for the autumn fixtures, which, in the worst scenario, will leave him with just a pair of exhibition games in spring 2026 to demonstrate his worth to Ancelotti before the revealing of the final list for the World Cup.

"But nobody wins the World Cup single-handedly. Putting all our expectations on him at the present time is challenging because he finds it hard to even play three games in a row."

Not just has Neymar had repeated injury problems since his homecoming - he's been absent for nearly half of Santos' matches this campaign - but, when he was able to play, he was a far cry from the player who during his peak rivaled the Argentine maestro and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Of his nine goal contributions so far, five have come against teams from lower tiers than Brazil's top flight - a scoring contribution against a lower-league side, followed by a three goal involvements versus Inter de Limeira, all in the Sao Paulo State Championship.

As Santos fight relegation in the top division, the playmaker no longer seems to be the difference maker he previously represented.

Despite that, Ancelotti has maintained that the forward has sufficient months to show he is ready for the World Cup.

Ancelotti created local debate last month by allegedly attempting to protect Neymar, stating the star had been excluded from the team over fitness concerns.

But then Neymar himself disputed it, saying he "was excluded for tactical decisions; it has nothing to do with my fitness level."

In terms of public perception, it certainly didn't make it any better for Neymar.

Polls from Datafolha found that the Brazilian public are divided over whether Neymar should be selected for his fourth World Cup.

With his 79 goals, Neymar is Brazil's all-time top scorer, but he hasn't helped his case much with his behaviour on the pitch either.

He seems more on edge than usual, having confronted fans repeatedly in venues - it happened in successive games in July.

The next month, the striker was emotional after Santos suffered a six-goal loss at home by their rivals - the biggest loss of his career.

When questioned by a journalist about his physical state in a game aftermath discussion, he also lost his patience: "Again with this, mate? I've answered this 500 times already."

The same kind of question has been posed to his father and agent Neymar Sr as well.

"Neymar's strategy was to spend five months at Santos. To what end? To regain fitness. If Neymar managed to play, so be it," he earlier stated, causing outrage among fans.

There's continuing belief, however, that Neymar's prime period haven't ended and that he will be able to return to prominence the same way striker Ronaldo "Fenômeno" did in 2002 to overcome doubt and physical setbacks to lead Brazil to the championship trophy.

The Brazilian great notes parallels.

"It's an exaggeration from a minority who believe he's disregarding his fitness rehabilitation.

Those who have been in football recognize fully how difficult it is to come back from an injury and regain rhythm and confidence. He's progressing well."

The Santos star has a important timeframe ahead to show that he's not the heir who stepped away from greatness.