Brazil's Unquestioned Star? Neymar Jr's Global Tournament Countdown Challenge
While Ousmane Dembele claimed the 2025 Ballon d'Or in late September, Neymar was undergoing therapy for his third injury of the year - while taking part in an online poker tournament.
The veteran football star eventually placed as runner-up, collecting around seventy-three thousand pounds in tournament winnings.
It was partial comfort on a day when he had to watch the player who previously succeeded him at Barcelona claim the award he had consistently dreamed to win.
Since returning to his youth team Santos in January, the experienced attacker has failed to live up to expectations, attracting more attention for comparable situations than for his on-field performances.
His return home after a dozen campaigns away was meant to be a chance for him to rediscover his best and, crucially, rekindle a love of football that seemed diminished after frustrating spells with Paris St-Germain and Al Hilal.
Instead, it has been largely underwhelming for everyone concerned.
This reflects the situation that the key issue being asked right now in Brazil is whether Neymar will be part of the upcoming global tournament.
He's running out of time.
"All players have to prove that they are prepared. The clock is ticking [for him]," Brazilian legend Tostao commented in his newspaper column.
On midweek, Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti revealed his squad for the forthcoming matches against Korea Republic and Japan and, once again, Neymar was not in it.
"The Prince", as he was dubbed when welcomed back at Santos in a nod toward the legend Pelé, is still awaiting his debut under Ancelotti, having been absent from the national team for 24 months.
He also remains an fitness concern for the November games, which, in the most pessimistic outlook, 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.
"Over a decade and a half, Neymar was Brazil's clear standout, carrying enormous expectations on his own," Brazilian icon Cafu said.
"But nobody wins the World Cup alone. Putting all our expectations on him at the present time is difficult because he has difficulty to even play three games in a row."
'Technical exclusion raises serious questions about Neymar'
Not only has Neymar had various physical concerns since his homecoming - he's missed nearly half of Santos' matches this season - but, when he was able to play, he was a far cry from the player who during his peak dared to challenge Lionel Messi and the Portuguese icon.
Of his several attacking returns so far, five have come against teams from lower tiers than Brazil's first division - a goal and assist against Agua Santa, 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 number 10 no longer seems to be the difference maker he previously represented.
Nevertheless, Ancelotti has insisted that the forward has plenty of time to show he is fit for the World Cup.
"His objective must be to be prepared in summer. It doesn't matter if he's in the squad in autumn, November or spring," the Italian told L'Equipe newspaper.
Ancelotti stirred local debate last month by reportedly trying to shield Neymar, claiming the star had been excluded from the team over physical condition issues.
But then Neymar himself challenged the claim, saying he "was excluded for technical reasons; it has nothing to do with my physical condition."
In terms of popular view, it certainly didn't make it any better for Neymar.
"If the player we have pinned our dreams on to win the World Cup is left out for technical reasons, obviously something isn't right," Cafu observed.
Is a Ronaldo-style comeback possible for Neymar?
Polls from Datafolha found that Brazilians are divided over whether Neymar should be included for his fourth World Cup.
With his 79 goals, Neymar is Brazil's historical leading marksman, but he hasn't helped his case much with his conduct during matches either.
He seems increased agitation than usual, having argued with fans multiple times in venues - it occurred in three consecutive matches in mid-year.
The next month, the striker was emotional after Santos suffered a six-goal loss at home by their rivals - the worst result of his career.
When questioned by a reporter about his physical state in a post-match interview, he became frustrated: "This topic again, mate? I've responded to this repeatedly already."
The similar query has been posed to his father and agent Neymar Sr as well.
"Neymar's plan was to spend five months at Santos. To what end? To regain fitness. If Neymar was able to feature, so be it," he earlier stated, causing anger among followers.
There's still a slight hope, however, that Neymar's peak years aren't over and that he will be able to revive his career the same way forward Ronaldo "FenĂ´meno" did in 2002 to surmount criticism and physical setbacks to guide Brazil to the championship trophy.
The former Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan legend observes parallels.
"He's a essential player for Brazil - there's no one else like Neymar," Ronaldo said during a recent event with the forward in the Brazilian city.
"It's an overstatement from a minority who believe he's ignoring his fitness rehabilitation.
Anyone who have been in football understand completely how difficult it is to recover from an setback and recover form and self-belief. He's right on track."
The Santos star has a critical period ahead to prove that he's not the heir who relinquished his status.
