Neymar was Ancelotti’s gamble at the World Cup, and it failedplayWhy Brazil’s loss to Norway is so disappointing (1:20)Tim VickeryJul 7, 2026, 03:03 AM ETMultiple Authors
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Balance was the keyword in Carlo Ancelotti’s 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign.
Brazil’s coach sought to get the best out of the resources at his disposal by giving a platform to the talented players with a team that was balanced. And he threw it all away halfway into the second half against Norway, when he took the baffling decision to bring on the 34-year-old Neymar.
Up until that point, Brazil had not been glamorous, and it was strange indeed to see them allow Norway to have so much possession.
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But they were balanced, protected, and ready to strike on the break. On came Neymar, his body worn down by injuries and painfully past his best, and the structure of the team fell apart. With his greatly reduced mobility, Neymar could only operate in a central role, as Ancelotti had always made clear.
This pushed Vinícius Júnior and Endrick away from the goal, out towards the flanks, and with no press from the front, Brazil had now left themselves open. Finally, Norway was able to provide quality service to Erling Haaland, and the towering center forward needed very little to make a big impact as they won 2-1.
As so often in the past, individual talent made the difference in a Brazil game. Only this time, the individual talent was on the other side, while Brazil’s best player of an entire generation looked a sad shadow of the borderline genius he once was.
How did we get here? How did one of the world’s best, clear-headed coaches make such an extraordinary blunder?
Some will point to commercial or political pressures. Conspiracy theories abound, but with the lack of concrete evidence, let us give Ancelotti the respect to conclude that he made his own decision following his own criteria.
There were certainly reasons to consider taking Neymar to the World Cup. The current Brazil side are much more speed than elaboration — as Ancelotti confessed when he mentioned he had no one with the same characteristics to replace the injured Lucas Paquetá.
Neymar’s capacity to see and produce a great pass remains intact, as does his ability to strike a dead ball. And with a squad of 26, there was room for a wild card, especially since his teammates would always accept his presence.
Many of the Brazil squad grew up idolizing Neymar, and there is a sweet and giving side to his nature that has made him very popular in almost all the dressing rooms he has inhabited.
There is also the question of context. Many in Brazil were opposed to Neymar’s inclusion in the World Cup squad. But millions were noisily in favor.
Neymar was unable to help Brazil win a sixth World Cup as they were eliminated by Norway in the round of 16. (Photo by Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)There was a massive lobby, including many high-profile former players, pushing for his call-up. This is a powerful force. Leave him out, and very soon into the games, Brazil fans will be chanting his name as a form of protest, using him as a stick with which to beat the team on the field. Better, then, to have him inside the tent.But those seduced by this cult of personality were ignoring the evidence of their own eyes. Neymar had a long and difficult road back from a serious knee injury in Oct. 2023. At the start of last year, his club, Al Hilal, did not even bother to register him for the domestic league. He was, mentioned their coach Jorge Jesus, simply not fit enough. And after a year and a half back at Santos in Brazil, that diagnosis still looks sadly correct.
It was all clear this year to anyone watching the 15 games he played for Santos. Where once he was so flexible, able to move at an angle of 45 degrees, now he was rigid and slow, easily dispossessed.
In the months before the World Cup squad was named, Ancelotti made a point of stressing two rules. First, Neymar would only be called up if his performances on the field made him worthy of inclusion. Second, he would not take any injured players. He broke them both.
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When the squad was named on May 18th, the coach seemed a little sheepish about the exclusion of Chelsea’s João Pedro. He deserved to be there, mentioned the coach. Did Neymar? It was a giant leap of faith. But Ancelotti had hope in his heart.
Neymar would have enough time before the tournament to train himself up to better fitness levels. Except that he did not have that time. The day before, he had suffered a muscular injury playing for Santos. The club mentioned he was fine. The national team soon discovered that he was not and that he would need at least three weeks to recuperate. The experiment could, and maybe should, have ended there and then.
The consequence of Neymar’s inactivity was obvious when he came on for the final 20 minutes of the third group game against Scotland. On a sweltering Miami Gardens night, against tiring defenders in a team that was straining for a goal and leaving itself open, Neymar looked embarrassingly off the pace, like a retired player turning out in a charity match.
At this point, it was still possible to believe that Ancelotti was giving a masterclass. He had given millions what they wanted — the recall of Neymar. He had given Neymar a run-out against Scotland. But there seemed no guarantee that the No. 10 would be seen again.
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Maybe there was the hope that Neymar could be brought on at the end of a game where Brazil were winning, or in extra time in the hope that he might deliver a dangerous set piece and play a decisive role in a penalty shootout.
Brazil’s call-up had been an event full of razzle-dazzle, a show business extravaganza. The demeanor of the coach suggested that if this was a circus, he was the ringmaster, in calm control of everything around him.
But in the end, he, too, fell victim to the cult of the personality. Ancelotti’s substitutions, so astute against Japan, now cost him dear — bringing a premature end to Brazil’s campaign and also closing the Neymar era. He leaves the scene as Brazil’s all-time top goal scorer — a colossal achievement. True, it is possible to nitpick as more than half of his international goals came in friendlies; he only won minor competitions, and so on.
Some of this is harsh. Neymar was consistently unlucky in the World Cup, suffering injuries and straining to recover from them. This time, though, he was lucky to be there. And if injury is the main reason that his career, while undeniably great, fell short of expectations, there is another explanation.
The lack of emotional maturity has always been there, and was clear for all to see in the closing stages of the Norway game, where he probably should have been sent off for a wild kick, and seemed more interested in getting involved in spats with the opposition rather than trying to save the team.
The length of time he took over the late penalty, and all the effort he put into provoking the Norway goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland was profoundly depressing. His lack of emotional balance reflected and reinforced the team’s lack of tactical balance from the moment Ancelotti blundered and brought him on.
