Ancelotti Discusses Neymar's Role in Brazil's World Cup Squad

Carlo Ancelotti knows exactly where the fault line runs in Brazil right now. It cuts straight through his World Cup squad list and stops at one name: Neymar.

On Monday, the Italian will reveal his final 26 for the 2026 World Cup. On Tuesday, he tackled the question that has spilled out of tactical debates and into everyday conversation: does Neymar go to the United States or stay home?

Ancelotti on Neymar: “Not a bomb in the locker room”

Speaking to Reuters, Ancelotti didn’t dodge the subject or try to play it down. He went straight to the heart of it: Neymar’s standing inside Brazil and inside the dressing room.

“Neymar is very loved. Not only by the people, but also by the players. If you call up Neymar, you are not bringing a bomb into the locker room, because he is very dear, very loved,” he said, underlining that this is not a case of a star who divides opinion among his teammates.

The coach acknowledged the noise around the decision, but refused to turn it into a burden.

“I think it’s normal for everyone to give their opinion. I thank everyone who has given me advice,” he added, before switching tone from diplomatic to clinical. This is where the emotion around Neymar ends and the selection logic begins.

Form, fitness and a race against time

Ancelotti framed Neymar as what he has always been for Brazil: “an important player for this country.” The reason is unchanged — talent.

“Neymar is an important player for this country, because of the talent he has always shown, and he had a problem, but he is recovering. He is working hard to recover and he is playing. In recent times he has improved a lot and is playing consistently,” the coach said.

That “problem” is no secret: injury and the long road back to full fitness. The encouraging part, from Ancelotti’s point of view, is what he has seen in the last stretch.

The Italian highlighted a specific window — “the last 15 or 20 days” — in which Neymar’s physical condition has picked up and his minutes have stabilized. For a player whose presence at a World Cup can tilt a tournament, those details matter.

They matter even more now that the Brazilian federation has already taken the first formal step. On Monday, the CBF sent FIFA a preliminary list of 55 names. Neymar is there. He is “in the mix,” officially eligible to be one of the 26 who will carry Brazil’s hopes this summer.

The hardest calls

Ancelotti did not pretend this is just another squad decision. He called it what it is: complicated.

“Obviously, for me, it is not such a simple decision. I have to carefully assess the pros and cons,” he admitted.

That calculation goes beyond Neymar. The coach stressed that his staff has spent a full year tracking every candidate, not just the Santos No. 10.

“But that does not put extra pressure on me, because, as I said, for a year we have been evaluating not only Neymar, but all the players.”

Then came the line that reveals how Ancelotti sees his own authority inside this debate.

“I am the most suitable person to make this decision. Because the information I have about all Brazilian players this year, no one else has. So, I am the most suitable person. Can I make a perfect list? Impossible. But I can make a list with fewer mistakes compared to others. Of that, I am sure.”

No promises. No grand gestures. Just a veteran coach leaning on decades of experience and a year of data.

No “external problem” in camp

Neymar’s potential inclusion always carries a second layer of discussion: the circus that can follow him. Ancelotti cut that off quickly.

He dismissed the idea that Brazil’s World Cup base could be destabilized from the outside, regardless of whether the Santos forward is there or not.

“The outside environment is under control, and it will remain under control until the end of the World Cup. With or without Neymar,” he said.

For a national team that has often felt the weight of expectation as much as any opponent, that is not a throwaway line. It is a promise that the noise will stay on the outside of the fence at Granja Comary.

Countdown to the World Cup

Once the final squad is announced on Monday, the clock will start ticking faster.

The players chosen by Ancelotti will report to the CBF training center at Granja Comary, in Teresópolis, on May 27. Only those involved in the Champions League final — from PSG and Arsenal — will arrive later.

Brazil will then say goodbye to its home crowd at the Maracanã on May 31, in a friendly against Panama. That night will feel like a send-off and a test, a last look at the team on Brazilian soil before the real examination begins.

On American ground, there is one more rehearsal: Egypt in Cleveland on June 6. After that, no more experiments. On June 13, in New Jersey, Brazil opens its World Cup campaign against Morocco.

By then, the debate will be over and the list will be fixed. The only question left will be the one hanging over this entire build-up: will Neymar be on the pitch, or watching the World Cup he once lit up from somewhere else?