Ronaldo Urges Ancelotti To Recall Neymar For 2026 World Cup

Brazilian football icon Ronaldo has called on national team coach Carlo Ancelotti to recall Neymar to the Brazil squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

Ronaldo, a two-time World Cup winner and one of the most celebrated players in Brazil’s history, said Neymar’s return could be the key to Brazil’s success at the tournament.

Neymar, Brazil’s all-time top scorer with 79 goals in 128 appearances, has been absent from the Selecao since suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay in October 2023. Now 33, he has regained fitness and is playing regularly for Santos — the club where his career began — following a brief and frustrating stint at Saudi side Al Hilal.

Despite his return to form, Neymar has not been included in any of Ancelotti’s four squads since the Italian took charge. Ronaldo believes this is a mistake.

“He is a decisive player for the Brazilian Selecao. We don’t have another player like Neymar,” Ronaldo said during a publicity event in São Paulo. “The people hope 100 percent that he will go to the World Cup because if he is there, we will definitely have better results than if he’s not there.”

Ronaldo’s endorsement carries weight — the legendary striker scored 62 goals in 99 appearances for Brazil, lifting the World Cup in 1994 and again in 2002, when he scored eight goals, including two in the final.

Neymar’s career has been plagued by injuries in recent years, including missing Brazil’s 2019 Copa America triumph. After joining Al Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023, he played just five matches before his knee injury sidelined him for almost a year. He returned briefly but made only two more appearances before rejoining Santos in January 2025.

Ancelotti has previously said Neymar must regain full match sharpness before being recalled. “He needs to get in better shape to help the national team and to give the best of himself at the World Cup,” the coach explained when asked about Neymar’s omission from the September qualifiers.

With the World Cup less than a year away, debate over Neymar’s place in the squad is intensifying. For Ronaldo and many Brazilian fans, leaving out the country’s most gifted attacking player of his generation would be a costly mistake.