Bangladesh does not have a football team at the World Cup. It almost certainly will not have one any time soon. And yet, in the early hours of 19 May, half the country appeared to be awake at 2 AM watching a squad announcement from Rio de Janeiro with the kind of desperate, white-knuckled attention that most nations reserve for their own knockout matches. Because in Bangladesh, Brazil is not a foreign team. It is a religion. And Neymar, for better or worse, is its most complicated prophet.
The live stream comment section told the whole story. Thousands of Bangladeshi supporters, flooding in waves, yellow and green flags filling the feed, voices rising in a digital roar as one name above all others hung in the air. When Carlo Ancelotti finally confirmed it, around two hours into an event that had already exhausted half its audience with singing, dancing, and speeches, the reaction from Dhaka was indistinguishable from Rio. Delirium. Pure, sleep-deprived, slightly unhinged delirium.
And so, officially, it is done. Neymar Jr is going to the 2026 World Cup.
Whether that is an act of footballing wisdom or romantic folly is a question that will define Brazil’s entire summer. Ancelotti, with the measured calm of a man who has managed Real Madrid twice, stood at the podium and handed the 34-year-old what will almost certainly be the final chapter of his Selecao story. The announcement itself, however, came buried beneath enough pageantry to make even the most devoted fan reach for the mute button.
Two hours of dancing to announce 26 names
The Brazilian Football Confederation did not simply announce a squad on Monday. They staged a production. The event, held at the Museum of Tomorrow on Rio de Janeiro’s waterfront, was billed as the biggest squad announcement in footballing history, and the CBF was not understating its own ambition. Musical performances, celebrity appearances, speeches, and elaborate skits filled nearly two hours of airtime before Ancelotti even approached the microphone. Around 700 journalists from 14 countries were accredited. The venue, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava against the backdrop of Guanabara Bay, was undeniably beautiful.
The patience required to sit through it, rather less so. By the time the actual squad names were being read out, viewers worldwide had been sitting through elaborate pageantry for the better part of two hours. Social media platforms did not take long to reflect the impatience. Comments ranged from gently sardonic to openly frustrated, with many questioning whether a squad announcement truly needed a supporting cast of dancers and a full musical programme. The sentiment was broadly the same across platforms: just tell us if Neymar is in. That was always going to be the only headline.
The man himself
The emotion, when it finally arrived, was worth it. A viral clip of Neymar discovering his inclusion, hugging a companion in a yellow Brazil kit and beaming with unrestrained joy, racked up hundreds of thousands of views within hours. The night before, playing for Santos against Coritiba, he had reportedly broken down in tears as the Brazilian national anthem played before kick-off. Whatever one thinks of the decision to pick him, the human story at its centre is genuinely affecting.
Neymar’s road back has been brutal. He ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Uruguay in October 2023, his last appearance for Brazil before Monday’s announcement. That is nearly 1,000 days between caps. He then endured a catastrophic spell at Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal, making just seven appearances in 18 months before returning to boyhood club Santos. This season, he has managed six goals and four assists in 13 matches. Modest, yes, but moving.
Ancelotti was typically precise in his reasoning. “He has improved his fitness,” the Italian said. “He has experience in this kind of competition, the love of our group; he can create a better environment in this group. We chose Neymar not because we think he’ll be a good substitute. We chose Neymar because we believe he can help the team, whether it’s for one minute, five minutes, 90 minutes, or even taking a penalty.”
The terms of his return
The inclusion did not come without conditions. Brazilian outlet Globo reported that last Thursday, Ancelotti and Brazilian Football Confederation director Rodrigo Caetano held a video call with Neymar in which the terms of his return were made explicit. Ancelotti informed him that he would no longer serve as captain, that his place in the starting eleven was not guaranteed, and that new disciplinary rules introduced under his management would apply to all players equally. Neymar was also advised to be more restrained on social media, and was told that the environment within the national team had changed significantly under the new setup. According to sources within the confederation, Neymar took the entire discussion positively, smiling throughout and promising to give everything for the team. It was the first direct communication between the two since last September.
The final decision was made only after Neymar suffered calf pain playing for Santos on Monday morning. The federation monitored his condition closely before confirming the injury was not serious, after which his inclusion was confirmed. It was Joao Pedro who paid the price, left out of the final squad to make room. The Chelsea forward, 23, had been one of the more consistent performers in Brazil’s recent qualifying campaign, contributing five goals and three assists, and arrived with genuine Club World Cup experience on home soil in the United States, having featured for Chelsea and won the tournament earlier this year. Pedro, who has 15 Premier League goals this season, had played in both of Brazil’s last friendlies before the tournament .His form and familiarity with American conditions made his omission one of the more contentious calls of the entire announcement. Neymar sent a message thanking Ancelotti after the squad was confirmed.
A World Cup career defined by heartbreak
To understand what this moment means, you have to understand what the World Cup has done to Neymar, which is largely: broken his heart in increasingly dramatic fashion. In 2014, on home soil, he was outstanding until a Colombian defender fractured his vertebra in the quarter-final. Brazil collapsed 7-1 to Germany without him. In 2018, he arrived half-fit and generated more controversy than goals as Brazil went out to Belgium. In Qatar in 2022, he scored a stunning goal against Croatia in extra time of the quarter-final, only for Croatia to equalise and then win on penalties. Neymar never even got to take a kick, watching from the centre circle as team-mates missed before collapsing in tears. He equalled Pele’s goal record that same night and still went home empty-handed. Eight goals and four assists across three tournaments, and still no winner’s medal.
The gamble Ancelotti is making
None of that history is lost on the people making this decision. The question now is whether it was the right one.
Ancelotti is not naive. He acknowledged the “Neymar Industrial Complex” problem without naming it directly. The Italian noted that he wanted to consider the dynamics of the dressing room, that Neymar is loved by his team-mates, that Raphinha and Casemiro and captain Marquinhos had all publicly lobbied for his inclusion. There is logic in that. A happy dressing room matters. A player who unites rather than divides is an asset.
But three legitimate questions circle this decision like vultures. The first is whether the collective deference Brazil’s players feel towards Neymar will, as it has so often before, lead to a quiet transfer of responsibility in their direction. The second is whether Neymar himself, with this being his last dance, is temperamentally capable of being one of 26 rather than the one in 26. And the third is simply whether his body, rebuilt from serious injury at 34, will hold up through the heat of a North American summer.
Ancelotti’s answer to all three was characteristically even-handed: “He has the same role and obligations as the other 25.”
He does, of course. And he does not. Neymar has never been just another squad member, and he will not be in this tournament either. The announcement confirmed his place. The melodrama is only beginning.
Brazil open their 2026 World Cup campaign against Morocco on 13 June in Group C, which also contains Scotland and Haiti. They face a friendly against Panama at the Maracana on 31 May.
