Neymar's Brazil Future Under Scrutiny as Rai Raises Concerns
The debate over Neymar’s place in the Brazil national team has flared again, and this time the questions are coming from one of his own. Rai, World Cup winner in 1994 and a former Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, has put the spotlight firmly on the 34-year-old’s fading physical edge.
Speaking on French show Rothen S'enflamme, Rai did not dodge the issue. He accepted that Neymar can still change games, but painted a stark picture of where the forward stands right now.
“If he comes, he'll have an impact on the team,” Rai said, before cutting straight to the point. Ancelotti, he argued, will judge not only Neymar’s talent but his influence and condition. “He's not at his best; he's had a lot of physical problems. He can't get back to his top form; he's lost speed. Of course, he still makes great passes – he's a star – but I think right now he's not at the level he needs to be.”
It was the kind of assessment that slices through nostalgia.
A Career Stalled by the Treatment Table
Neymar’s recent years have been defined less by his trademark flair and more by scans, surgeries and setbacks. His big-money move to Al-Hilal in 2023 was supposed to be a new chapter, a chance to dominate in the Saudi Pro League while staying sharp for Brazil.
Instead, his story turned on a single night in October 2023.
During a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay, Neymar suffered a devastating knee injury. That match remains his last appearance for the Seleção. From there, the long, familiar road of rehabilitation replaced the roar of international crowds.
A romantic return to boyhood club Santos in January 2025 was meant to reset his career. So far, it has only underlined how fragile his body has become.
On paper, the numbers are respectable: four goals and four assists in nine games across league and continental competition. In reality, every outing has been managed like a high-risk operation. Santos have sat him out of several domestic fixtures as a precaution, and he recently underwent a regenerative procedure using platelet-rich plasma to strengthen his joints and speed up his recovery.
The talent is still there. The question is whether the body can keep up with it.
Ancelotti’s Brazil Has No Room for Passengers
Into this uncertainty walks Carlo Ancelotti, a coach renowned for handling superstars but ruthless about standards. His message since taking the Brazil job has been clear: only players in peak physical condition will be trusted for the 2026 World Cup in North America.
That stance places Neymar in a precarious position. He is Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer, the iconic No.10, the man who has carried the nation’s hopes for over a decade. Yet he is also a forward who has barely played at the highest intensity in recent years.
Ancelotti will announce his final World Cup roster on May 18. Every minute Neymar plays for Santos between now and then will be studied. Every sprint, every grimace, every absence.
The staff know what he can see and execute with the ball. What they must decide is whether his legs can still live inside a modern, high-octane game for seven matches at a World Cup.
Santos Walk a Tightrope
At club level, the balancing act is already brutally clear. Santos head coach Cuca has confirmed Neymar will sit out the next Serie A match against Bahia. Not because he is unimportant, but because he is too important to risk.
The priority is a crucial Copa Sudamericana clash away to San Lorenzo in Argentina. Neymar is being wrapped in cotton wool for the big nights, protected from the grind in the hope that he can still deliver on demand.
It is a delicate, almost precarious management of a superstar whose body no longer guarantees availability. Every rest day is a reminder of how far he is from the ironman status demanded by international football at the very top level.
Brazil’s Dilemma: Legend or Liability?
For the Seleção, the issue is brutally simple and emotionally complex. Can they afford to take a diminished version of their talisman to a World Cup that will define Ancelotti’s reign?
Rai’s verdict cuts to the heart of it. Neymar’s vision, passing and creativity remain elite. He can still unlock a defence with a single touch. But the loss of that explosive burst – the acceleration that once separated him from almost every defender on the planet – changes the equation.
In an era where pressing, intensity and transition speed dictate tournaments, a half-fit star can become a tactical weakness. Brazil must weigh the aura and artistry of their greatest goalscorer against the cold reality of his fitness.
On May 18, Ancelotti will show where he stands.
Will Neymar be granted one last dance on the world stage, or will Brazil’s future finally move on without the player who defined a generation?
