Neymar is back. Or at least, he’s close enough that Carlo Ancelotti is willing to say it out loud.
Brazil’s head coach confirmed that the 34-year-old forward has recovered from the grade-2 right calf strain that kept him out of the team’s first two World Cup group-stage matches. The target return date: June 24, 2026, when Brazil face Scotland in their final Group F fixture.
The injury timeline
Neymar picked up the calf injury on May 15, 2026, while playing for Santos. A grade-2 strain sits in that uncomfortable middle ground of muscle injuries: not a minor tweak you can run off, but not the full rupture that ends your tournament before it starts.
Brazil’s first game against Morocco on June 19 came and went without Neymar. Same story for the Haiti match on June 22. Through both fixtures, the forward was limited to individual training sessions and gym work, separated from the full squad.
