Casemiro Defends Neymar Amid World Cup Speculation

Casemiro has had enough of the noise.

As Brazil edge toward the 2026 World Cup, the conversation around the Seleção keeps circling back to one man: Neymar. Will he make it? Should he make it? Is he still worth the gamble?

For Casemiro, the questions have gone from tedious to disrespectful.

“It is annoying because everyone talks about it, and everyone asks about it. I am sincerely a friend of Neymar,” the Manchester United midfielder told ESPN, laying bare his frustration at the relentless scrutiny surrounding the Santos forward.

This is not a casual opinion. This is coming from someone who has shared a pitch and a dressing room with Neymar for more than two decades.

“I am a guy who has played with Neymar since I was 12, and so, it goes like this: Is Neymar going or not? And everyone fixates on that.”

The fixation, in his eyes, misses the point. Neymar is 34 now, battered by injuries and doubts, but not by any lack of talent or legacy. Casemiro made that distinction crystal clear.

“I think it is very clear, especially in my opinion. Neymar doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone.”

The debate, as he sees it, should be reduced to one simple variable: fitness. If Neymar’s body holds up, the rest takes care of itself.

“Ancelotti (Brazil coach) and everyone else made it very clear, it’s the physical issue, because in terms of talent, we don’t even have to talk here about the great player he is.”

That’s the line from inside the camp: if Neymar is fit, he goes. No auditions. No trials. No legacy checks.

Brazil, drawn into Group C with Morocco, Haiti, and Scotland when the tournament kicks off next month, will walk into a tricky, varied group. They will face Morocco’s intensity, Haiti’s fearlessness, Scotland’s grit. It is the kind of group where one moment of genius can rip the script to shreds.

Casemiro clearly believes he already knows who that genius is.