Neymar's Future: Ancelotti Consults Brazil's President Lula

Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t just have Brazil talking. He has its president on the line.

In a remarkable glimpse into the political and emotional weight of Neymar’s future with the Selecao, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva revealed that Ancelotti personally contacted him to sound out the mood around a possible recall. Not a federation chief. Not a sporting director. The head of state.

Lula, speaking live on his YouTube channel, laid out the exchange in detail and underlined the pressure around the 34-year-old’s potential return.

“I had the chance to speak with Ancelotti, and he asked me: ‘Do you think Neymar should be called up?’” Lula said. “I said: ‘Look, Ancelotti, if he’s physically fit, he’s got the football. What I need to know is whether he actually wants it.’”

That line cut straight to the heart of the Neymar debate in Brazil. His talent has never been in question. His commitment often has.

“If he does, then he has to be professional,” Lula continued. “He can look at someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, he can look at [Lionel] Messi, and still go to the national team, because he’s not old yet. But he can’t expect to go just on his name. He has to earn it on the pitch.”

Ancelotti, for his part, has been careful to keep the conversation grounded in performance, not politics or nostalgia. The Italian knows the emotional pull of Neymar in Brazil, yet he has drawn a clear line: no player will be taken to North America on reputation alone, particularly after such a serious injury.

Neymar underwent knee surgery in December. The comeback has been watched like a national drama.

“Neymar is capable of coming back. I have said it several times, and it is very clear: I will only call up players who are physically ready,” Ancelotti said. “After his knee injury (in December), Neymar has recovered well; he is scoring goals. He needs to keep moving in that direction and improve his fitness. He is on the right path.”

The message is both encouragement and warning. Keep going, but this isn’t done.

“Right now, he is being assessed by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), by myself, and he still has two months to show that he has the qualities needed to play in the next World Cup,” Ancelotti added.

Two months. For a player of Neymar’s stature, that clock ticks louder than for anyone else in the squad pool.

While Brazil argues with itself over whether the No. 10 should return, the next generation has already made up its mind. Across the Atlantic, one of world football’s brightest young stars is openly campaigning for his childhood idol to be on the biggest stage in 2026.

Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, still a teenager but already a sensation, spoke with the kind of reverence that reminds everyone just how big a figure Neymar remains for young players.

“He’s my idol and I’ll always be grateful to him for everything he’s given to soccer,” Yamal said in a press conference. “He inspires everyone. He’s the type of player that you’ll pay a ticket to watch him play, the type of player you’ll watch a game again three days later just to see his moves. Hopefully he will be at the World Cup.”

From Lula’s office to Yamal’s dressing room, the sentiment converges on one point: a fit, focused Neymar still changes games and still moves people.

That’s the gamble now. Can he convince Ancelotti and the CBF that his body will hold and his professionalism will match his talent? The Brazilian president has challenged his star to prove he truly wants it. The coach has given him a hard deadline.

With the World Cup countdown entering its final stretch, Neymar remains one of the most argued-over, analysed, and admired names in the sport — and he has just two months left to turn opinion into a boarding pass.