Neymar Doesn’t Want To Go To The FIFA World Cup? Former Winner Makes Big Claim

Last Updated:April 10, 2026, 4:27 pm IST

Luizao questions Neymar’s hunger for 2026 World Cup as Ancelotti cites fitness problems, while Neymar vows to prove himself after Croatia 2022 heartbreak.

Neymar is struggling to find a place in Brazil’s national team (Picture credit: AP)

Former Brazil footballer Luizao has said that if Neymar had wanted to go to the FIFA World Cup, he would have hunted down national team coach Carlo Ancelotti and spoken to him and vice versa, but none of that has happened.

Ancelotti has pointed to Neymar’s lack of fitness as the reason for his omission, stating that the forward will be reconsidered once he is match-ready. Meanwhile, Neymar has pledged to give his all in a bid to earn a recall to the national team ahead of the FIFA World Cup in June.

But Luizão, a member of Brazil’s 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning team, believes Neymar lacks the hunger to reclaim his spot. He contrasted this with his former teammate Ronaldo Nazário, who overcame injuries to feature in and win the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

“I think that Neymar does not want to go to the World Cup. Come on, Galvao, when we want it, like Ronaldo wanted it… I would seek out the coach to talk and the coach would seek him out,” Luizão said while speaking on World Champion With Galvao on N Sports.

Brazil are all set to name their team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in May. In the lead-up, they will play friendlies against Panama and Egypt, before kicking off their Group C campaign against Morocco.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada is fast approaching, yet the memories of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar continue to haunt Neymar.

With just over a month to prove his fitness to Ancelotti and bag a place in his fourth FIFA World Cup, Neymar reflected on the heartbreak of Brazil’s penalty shootout exit against Croatia.

“I have always taken penalties my whole life. In my head, the fifth one is the most… it might not even get to you, right? Honestly, in the game against Croatia, I thought I had died,” Neymar said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

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