Brazil’s World Cup campaign has been plunged into uncertainty just days before the tournament after Neymar was diagnosed with a grade two calf injury that is expected to keep him sidelined for two to three weeks, placing his availability for the Seleção’s opening group game against Morocco on June 13 in serious doubt.

The Brazilian Football Confederation confirmed the setback on Thursday, with team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar telling reporters that the 34-year-old underwent a full battery of medical examinations upon arriving at Brazil’s Granja Comary training base in Teresópolis and that the results left little room for optimism in the short term.

The timing could hardly be worse for coach Carlo Ancelotti. Neymar had only just been named in Brazil’s 26-man squad for the tournament his fourth World Cup having not featured for the national team since October 2023, when he suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in his left knee during a qualifying match against Uruguay.

His recall had been one of the most emotional storylines of the build-up, with the forward visibly moved by the call-up announcement and confessing that he had cried for several hours upon hearing his name. That he has now picked up another injury at such a delicate moment will inevitably reignite debate over whether his selection was a risk worth taking.

Neymar had returned to Santos on a free transfer from Al-Hilal and managed just eight league starts this season, scoring four goals and adding two assists. That limited run of games, however encouraging in flashes, left him short of match sharpness heading into a major tournament, and the calf problem described as moderate in severity is now set to force him to miss Brazil’s final preparatory fixtures, including a friendly against Panama on May 31.

The Brazilian medical staff have placed him on an intensive recovery programme, though the two-to-three-week timeframe means even the Morocco opener may come too soon.

Under FIFA regulations governing the 2026 World Cup, Brazil have until June 1 to submit their final squad, with provisions also allowing for a replacement to be registered up to one day before a team’s first match. That window gives Ancelotti some flexibility, though his decision on whether to retain or replace Neymar will depend heavily on how the forward responds to treatment over the next week.

The Italian coach had previously opted to build Neymar’s role into his tactical plans for the tournament, and his absence from the opening fixture would represent a significant blow to Brazil’s hopes of hitting the ground running in Group C.

Brazil’s remaining group opponents are Haiti and Scotland, and the expectation within the camp is that Neymar could yet recover in time to feature in the latter stages of the group phase. But for a player whose career has been repeatedly interrupted by injury, the latest setback will do little to quieten those who questioned his inclusion, and all eyes will be on Granja Comary in the days ahead as Brazil hope for better news before the World Cup gets underway on June 11.