Neymar Jr. is Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer in international football, and he made his first appearance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 23 (June 24 IST) as a second-half substitute in Brazil’s third and final Group C match against Scotland at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. He came on for the final 15 minutes of the match, which Brazil won 3-0, and created three chances during his brief spell on the pitch. However, despite his impressive performance against the European side, Neymar did not start Brazil’s Round of 32 match against Japan on Monday (June 29).
He was among the 14 substitutes named by Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti, but surprisingly, he did not come off the bench against Japan either.
Neymar’s absence from Brazil’s
first knockout match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup raised questions about his fitness. However, after the Seleção secured a hard-fought 2-1 comeback win over Japan in Houston, Ancelotti explained why he chose not to use the veteran forward.
According to Ancelotti, he had planned to bring Neymar on during extra time, but those plans changed after Gabriel Martinelli scored the winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time (90+5′) to seal a dramatic comeback victory for the five-time world champions.
Speaking to reporters after Brazil’s third win of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ancelotti said Neymar would have come on around the 60th or 65th minute if Brazil had failed to equalise. However, after Casemiro headed home the equaliser in the 56th minute, he did not want to disrupt the team’s rhythm as Brazil took control of the match.
“I was waiting for extra time to bring Neymar on… We talked about this with him too. If we hadn’t found the equaliser, he would have come on around the 60th or 65th minute,” Ancelotti said.
“Since we had control of the match, I didn’t want to disrupt the game’s structure,” he added.
Neymar, who made his FIFA World Cup debut for Brazil against Croatia in 2014, has scored eight goals in football’s biggest tournament. If he scores at least once at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, he will become only the second Brazilian after Pelé to score in four different FIFA World Cup editions.
