Brazil's Undisputed Star? Neymar's World Cup Race Against Time

While the French winger received the prestigious football award in the autumn months, the Brazilian sensation was receiving treatment for his latest physical setback of the year - simultaneously engaging in an online poker tournament.

The veteran Brazilian ace eventually placed as second place, collecting around seventy-three thousand pounds in prize money.

It was partial comfort on a day when he had to witness the player who once replaced him at Barcelona claim the award he had long hoped to win.

Since coming back to his boyhood club Santos in January, the experienced attacker has fallen short of expectations, drawing more attention for similar incidents than for his football.

His return home after 12 seasons away was meant to be a chance for him to return to peak condition and, crucially, restore a passion for the game that seemed lost after frustrating spells with Paris St-Germain and the Saudi club.

Instead, it has been generally unsatisfactory for everyone concerned.

Such is the situation that the main question being asked right now in Brazil is if Neymar will make it to the 2026 World Cup.

He's facing a deadline.

On Wednesday, Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti announced his squad for the forthcoming matches against Korea Republic and the Asian nation and, once again, Neymar was not in it.

"O Principe", as he was nicknamed when received at Santos in a reference to the legend Pelé, is still awaiting his debut under Ancelotti, having been absent from the Selecao for two years.

He also remains an fitness concern for the November games, which, in the most pessimistic outlook, will leave him with only two friendly matches in March 2026 to prove himself to Ancelotti before the announcement of the definitive squad for the World Cup.

"But no one wins the World Cup alone. Placing all our expectations on him at the moment is challenging because he finds it hard to even play multiple matches in a row."

Not only has Neymar had repeated injury problems since his homecoming - he's missed 47% of Santos' matches this season - but, when he was available for selection, he was a far cry from the player who during his prime dared to challenge the Argentine maestro and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Of his several attacking returns so far, half have come against teams from divisions below Brazil's first division - a goal and assist against Agua Santa, followed by a goal and two assists versus another lower-division opponent, all in the Sao Paulo State Championship.

As Santos fight relegation in the Brazilian first tier, the number 10 no longer seems to be the decisive factor he previously represented.

Despite that, Ancelotti has asserted that the forward has ample opportunity to show he is fit for the World Cup.

Ancelotti caused local discussion last month by reportedly trying to protect Neymar, claiming the star had been excluded from the team over fitness concerns.

But then Neymar himself challenged the claim, saying he "was excluded for technical reasons; it has no connection to my fitness level."

In terms of public perception, it definitely didn't help for Neymar.

Research from Datafolha found that the Brazilian public are split over whether Neymar should be included for his fourth World Cup.

With his record tally, Neymar is Brazil's all-time top scorer, but he hasn't improved his situation much with his behaviour on the pitch either.

He seems greater frustration than usual, having exchanged words with fans on several occasions in venues - it happened in three consecutive matches in July.

The following month, the forward was left in tears after Santos suffered a 6-0 home defeat by Vasco da Gama - the worst result of his professional life.

When questioned by a journalist about his fitness condition in a game aftermath discussion, he showed irritation: "Again with this, mate? I've answered this 500 times already."

The identical inquiry has been posed to his parent representative Neymar Sr as well.

"Neymar's strategy was to spend five months at Santos. For what? To recover. If Neymar was able to feature, so be it," he previously explained, causing displeasure among followers.

There's continuing belief, however, that Neymar's prime period remain possible and that he will be able to resurrect his form the same way forward Ronaldo "Fenômeno" did in 2002 to surmount doubt and physical setbacks to lead Brazil to the championship trophy.

The former Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan legend sees parallels.

"It's an overstatement from a small group who believe he's ignoring his physical recovery.

Those who have been in football recognize fully how challenging it is to return from an setback and regain rhythm and confidence. He's moving forward."

The Brazilian forward has a critical period ahead to prove that he's not the prince who abandoned the throne.