Neymar could make his first appearance at this year’s World Cup in Brazil’s match against Scotland in Miami on Wednesday, with Carlo Ancelotti weighing whether the forward is fit enough to return after a calf injury that has kept him out of the finals so far.The match is in the early hours of Thursday SA time.The 34-year-old, recalled by Ancelotti after almost three years away from the national side, has yet to play at the tournament after suffering the injury more than five weeks ago.His absence from Brazil’s opening two group matches against Morocco and Haiti only sharpened the intrigue around a player whose career has lurched from dazzling promise to a medical file thick enough to alarm even the most optimistic supporter.Neymar last played for Brazil in 2023, when he suffered a serious knee injury against Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier.Since then, he has been sidelined for more than 650 days by a string of injuries sustained during spells playing in Saudi Arabia and Brazil, where he returned to boyhood club Santos last year in an attempt to revive his career.Instead, his comeback has been stop-start, with further injuries and fresh controversies interrupting his search for rhythm and sharpness.This year he has scored six goals and provided four assists in 15 matches, while being carefully managed and never playing more than four consecutive games since returning from knee surgery in February.His inclusion in Ancelotti’s squad sparked fierce debate in Brazil, largely because nobody seemed entirely sure when he would be fit — or what version of Neymar would emerge if he was.After missing the opening games, Neymar resumed full training last week. On Monday, he took part in his first tactical and team training under Ancelotti, who took over Brazil after leaving Real Madrid last year.Teammate Gabriel Martinelli said Neymar looked ready.“He’s performing at a very high level and you could see the intensity in today’s training session. You could see how keen he is to be with us, and his quality is unquestionable,” Martinelli said on Monday.“Whether he’ll play or not is a question for the manager, but I think he’s in great shape.”Brazil lead Group C on four points ahead of Morocco on goal difference. Scotland are third with three points.After a flat first half in the 1-1 draw with Morocco, Brazil responded with a 3-0 win over Haiti and need a convincing display against the Scots to boost their chances of coming top.Brazil will reach the last 32 as group winners if they win or draw versus Scotland and Morocco fail to beat Haiti.Morocco will be chasing not only victory but also goals against already-eliminated Haiti in Atlanta on Wednesday (early hours of Thursday in SA), eager to finish top of Group C ahead of Brazil.It would be a statement success for the North Africans, who have four points from their opening two games and made an immediate impression when they had Brazil on the back foot in their drawn first match.Morocco, who then beat Scotland in Boston on Friday, have picked up where they left off from the last World Cup in Qatar, where they became the first African and Arab country to reach the semifinals.Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said the Caribbean team would pose a difficult challenge despite their early exit.“That’s the beauty of the World Cup, all the different styles of teams you go up against and have to deal with,” he said.Also on Wednesday, a Canada rallying around the loss of injured midfielder Ismael Kone face Switzerland needing a win or draw to secure top spot in Group B and their first World Cup knockout-round appearance.Canada will be without the services of Kone when they line up against three-time quarterfinalists Switzerland as the linchpin midfielder suffered a broken leg following a tackle by Qatar’s Assim Madibo during the co-host’s 6-0 thrashing of Qatar last week that gave them their first World Cup win.“He means everything to this team,” Jonathan David, Canada’s all-time leading scorer, said of his injured teammate. “It was a difficult moment. But we have to stay strong for him, and do it for him.”That’s the beauty of the World Cup, all the different styles of teams you go up against and have to deal with— Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi on clash with HaitiReplacing the midfielder will be no easy feat for Marsch, who acknowledged the absence of Kone “weakens us in the tournament”, but he will have no choice but to rely on someone from his bench to step up in the high-stakes clash against Switzerland.Canada and Switzerland have four points from two games, though the World Cup co-hosts are top of Group B due to a superior goal difference.Switzerland, who started the World Cup as Group B favourites, opened with a draw against Qatar followed by a 4-1 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina and now need one point against Canada to secure a round-of-32 place in the expanded tournament.Bosnia and Herzegovina and Qatar go into their final Group B game on Wednesday knowing they realistically must win to progress, with a possible last-32 clash against co-hosts the US the prize on offer.The two sides began their tournaments well enough as Bosnia held Canada to a creditable draw while Qatar, whose only previous finals appearance was on home soil in 2022, snatched a late equaliser against Switzerland.Their disastrous second matches, however, leave them targeting third in Group B, which could set up a knockout game against the US in San Francisco on July 1 — but only if one of them can grab all three points in Seattle.Bosnia held out for more than 70 minutes until the wheels fell off in a 4-1 defeat by the Swiss and Qatar were simply blown away, already 2-0 down when Homam Ahmed was sent off to open the floodgates in a 6-0 drubbing.Coming World Cup matchesTuesday:Group K: Portugal v Uzbekistan, Houston (7pm)Group L: England v Ghana, Boston (10pm)Wednesday:Group L: Panama v Croatia, Toronto (1am)Group K: Colombia v DR Congo, Guadalajara (4am)Group B: Switzerland v Canada, Vancouver (9pm)Group B: Bosnia & Herzegovina v Qatar, Seattle (9pm)Thursday:Group C: Morocco v Haiti, Atlanta (12am)Group C: Scotland v Brazil, Miami (12am)Group A: Bafana Bafana v South Korea, Monterrey (3am)Group A: Czech Republic v Mexico, Mexico City (3am)Group E: Curacao v Ivory Coast, Philadelphia (10pm)Group E: Ecuador v Germany, 10pm, New Jersey (10pm)All the World Cup fixtures hereWorld Cup page hereAll the group profiles hereStar player profiles hereBafana news here