Star Brazil and Santos forward Neymar found himself involved in an unexpected situation when he was subbed off by ‘mistake’ during his team’s match against Coritiba in the Brazilian Serie A on Sunday, May 17, an incident that left the star footballer fuming.
As Santos pushed for a comeback against Coritiba, Neymar was caught up in a bizarre administrative error when the fourth official displayed his No. 10 on the substitution board instead of Gonzalo Escobar’s No. 31.
It was a costly error that saw Santos lose their technical leader in the closing stages of the league game. Watch the video here:
During Santos’ game, the fourth official signalled Neymar to be substituted 🔁
Neymar was surprised but went off. However, he then realised that another
player was supposed to come off, as written on the substitution sheet 📃
But it was too late, as the substitution had already… pic.twitter.com/lwwkh7fEL4
— 433 (@433) May 17, 2026
Stunned and angry, Neymar even grabbed the substitution slip from his staff to highlight the fourth official’s error. He then held it up towards the cameras, showing that the number written was 31 (Gonzalo Escobar) and not 10 (Neymar), exposing the obvious mistake.
But it made no difference: despite the written proof of the officiating error and the chaos on the Santos bench, the decision stood. Forced to make way for Robinho Jr, the star No. 10 left the field furious, criticising officials who had lost control of the situation.
As a reminder, this was Neymar’s final game, with Carlo Ancelotti all set to announce his FIFA World Cup team on Monday. What was meant to be a decisive ‘last chance’ outing instead ended in disappointment, with Santos suffering a 3-0 loss and the evening overshadowed by frustration and controversy.
The spotlight is on Rio de Janeiro as Ancelotti prepares to unveil his final Brazil team on Monday. At the centre of the national debate is Neymar, the 34-year-old talisman and all-time leading scorer for the Selecao, whose path back has been disrupted by repeated long-term injuries.
