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Carlo Ancelotti insists Neymar remains in his plans for the World Cup next year, but has warned the Santos star that he must be fully fit to earn a recall to the final Brazil squad. The forward has not played for the Seleçãosince October 2023, in a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay, but Ancelotti says he could yet play a part in next summer's tournament.
Neymar has 128 caps for Brazil but has not featured for his country since 2023. Now, though, Ancelotti has claimed that there is a route back into the squad for the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward, who is back playing for Santos, having returned to the club earlier this year.
Since his exit from PSG, the 33-year-old has struggled immensely with injuries, sustaining a cruciate ligament tear while with Al Hilal in 2023/24; he has subsequently had to deal with a recurring hamstring problem that has further limited his minutes. And while Ancelotti admits he has been planning for the 2026 tournament with Neymar involved, he has warned that he must regain full fitness.
Ancelotti told reporters: "Neymar can play at his highest level in this team without any problems. When he is in good physical condition, he has the quality to play not only in Brazil but in any team in the world because of his talent."
He added: "Brazilian players have the quality to play beautiful football but you have to think about what you mean by beautiful football. Brazilian players have individual quality but that is combined with teamwork and movement off the ball, and that's very important in football.
"My goal is to give my best for the Brazil national team, to try to get them to perform at their best and to win the World Cup. Of course, no foreign-born coach has
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