Brazil star to go undergo MRI as he closes in on return ahead of World Cup

Brazil star Neymar is poised to return to training next week, allaying fears he could miss the World Cup.

The Santos forward sustained a calf problem against Coritiba the day before the squad was announced and his availability for the global showpiece that starts on Thursday has become a daily obsession for fans of the five-time winners.

Neymar won’t leave the team’s training base in New Jersey to travel to Cleveland for tonight’s warm-up game with Egypt but will instead continue his rehabilitation with team medics.

He is scheduled to undergo an MRI on the injury on Monday and, if he comes through that successfully, will join in with his team-mates next week as they continue their preparation for their opening game, against African champions Morocco next Saturday.

Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti said: “I think it’s quite clear. He’s doing a great individual job. I believe he’s going to do an MRI and, if everything goes well, he’ll be able to train with the group next week.”

Neymar has point to prove after Brazil inclusion

Neymar’s inclusion in the squad at the expense of Chelsea’s Joao Pedro was a controversial move from Ancelotti, who reportedly handed the former Barcelona and PSG star an ultimatum that he had to adhere to three specific rules if he wanted to go the tournament.

According to Globo, they were:

• An understanding and acceptance that he would not be one of the team captains
• An understanding and acceptance that he would not be a part of the starting XI
• To limit his social media activity during the tournament

The newspaper reported Neymar was happy to accept and promised Ancelotti he would do “everything possible to be useful to the team”.

Neymar is Brazil’s record scorer with 79 goals in 128 international appearances.

He has not played for his country since tearing an ACL in a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay on October 17, 2023.