Neymar’s World Cup hopes have been dealt a significant blow after medical checks revealed the full extent of his calf injury.
The 34-year-old Santos forward, who is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer, is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks after scans confirmed a grade two muscle tear.
This diagnosis means Neymar will miss Brazil’s two warm-up friendlies against Panama on Sunday and Egypt on June 6. The former Barcelona and Paris St Germain playmaker now faces a critical race to regain fitness for their opening World Cup group game against Morocco on June 13.
Initially, Neymar had played down the severity of the injury, sustained in Santos’ 3-0 defeat to Coritiba 11 days ago.
However, Brazil doctor Rodrigo Lasmar provided a definitive update: “After missing Wednesday’s training session to undergo imaging tests in Teresopolis, the MRI ruled out the initial hypothesis of a simpler issue.
“He arrived here at Granja (on Wednesday), underwent all the medical exams and we finished with an MRI that identified a grade two muscle injury in the calf, not just swelling.”
The prolific attacker, who has scored 79 goals in 128 appearances for Brazil, has been dogged by injury issues in recent seasons, including a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee in October 2023.
He is hoping to appear at a fourth World Cup, having featured in the 2014, 2018, and 2022 tournaments.
Neymar has not played for the national team since suffering his serious knee injury over two-and-a-half years ago.
It appeared earlier this year that he was likely to miss out on the World Cup squad after struggling to put a run of games together, but a string of strong performances convinced Carlo Ancelotti to call him up for this summer’s tournament.
However, he could now miss the start of the World Cup due to his latest injury setback, which would be a big blow for Brazil’s hopes.
Brazil have won the World Cup on five occasions, but have not lifted the coveted trophy since 2002. They have been knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the last two editions of the World Cup, and could need Neymar at his best to progress further this time around.
