Neymar pulled on his training kit and rejoined Brazil's squad in Morristown, New Jersey on Wednesday — his first session back since a right calf injury sidelined him roughly a month ago. The images will do the rounds. The questions, though, are harder to answer than the photographs suggest.
According to ESPN FC and corroborated by Globo Esporte, Neymar trained alongside his Brazil teammates in Morristown ahead of their World Cup fixture against Haiti, appearing in full kit and taking part in the session. A month out with a calf problem, and he's back moving with the group. He reportedly greeted teammates with a "did you miss me?" — which is very him.
The catch is that joining a training session and being ready to play in a World Cup are two very different things. No timeline for a competitive return has been confirmed, and nothing from the Brazil camp has indicated whether Neymar is in contention for selection imminently or simply beginning the process of working back to match fitness.
Brazil's attacking shape without Neymar has been a genuine talking point throughout this cycle. He remains the player who most naturally bends the team around him — the one who draws fouls, creates space for runners, and carries the weight of a nation's expectations in a way no current squad member quite replicates. His absence forced the coaching staff to find different answers in the final third, and they've had to.
With him available — even partially — Brazil's options expand significantly. Whether that means a role off the bench, a place in the starting eleven, or simply the threat of his presence reshaping how opponents set up, Neymar in the squad is a different proposition to Neymar watching from the stands.
The Al-Hilal context matters here: Neymar hasn't played club football at the highest European level for some time — he's been at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, and injury has eaten into even that chapter of his career. Match sharpness, at this stage of a World Cup, isn't something you recover in a fortnight of training sessions. Brazil's staff will know that better than anyone.
For now, the story is this: he's back on the grass, he's in uniform, and he's with the group. Whether that becomes a World Cup story — rather than just a training-ground photograph — depends entirely on what the next few days show.
He didn't look like a man who thought he was going to miss it.
Neymar pulled on his training kit and rejoined Brazil's squad in Morristown, New Jersey on Wednesday — his first session back since a right calf injury sidelined him roughly a month ago. The images will do the rounds.
Fontes
ESPN FC
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