Brazil's Undisputed Star? Neymar's Global Tournament Countdown Challenge

As Ousmane Dembele claimed the prestigious football award in the autumn months, the Brazilian sensation was lying in bed for his third injury of the year - while participating in an online poker tournament.

The 33-year-old Brazilian ace ultimately finished as runner-up, securing around seventy-three thousand pounds in tournament winnings.

It was partial comfort on a day when he had to witness the player who previously succeeded him at Barcelona receive the award he had consistently dreamed to win.

After returning to his youth team Santos in January, the experienced attacker has failed to live up to expectations, drawing more attention for comparable situations than for his football.

His return home after 12 seasons away was meant to be a chance for him to rediscover his best and, most importantly, rekindle a passion for the game that seemed lost after frustrating spells with PSG and Al Hilal.

Instead, it has been generally unsatisfactory for each stakeholder.

This reflects the situation that the key issue being asked right now in Brazil is whether Neymar will be part of the 2026 World Cup.

He's running out of time.

On Wednesday, Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti disclosed his team selection for the upcoming games against Korea Republic and the Asian nation and, yet again, Neymar was not in it.

"O Principe", as he was nicknamed when welcomed back at Santos in a reference to the legend Pelé, is yet to play under Ancelotti, having been absent from the national team for two years.

He continues to be an fitness concern for the autumn fixtures, which, in the most pessimistic outlook, will leave him with just a pair of friendly matches in March 2026 to prove himself to Ancelotti before the announcement of the definitive squad for the World Cup.

"But no one wins the World Cup alone. Putting all our expectations on him at the moment is problematic because he has difficulty to even play three games in a row."

Not only has Neymar had repeated injury problems since his return to Brazil - he's been absent for nearly half of Santos' matches this season - but, when he was available for selection, he was a different to the player who during his peak competed with the Argentine maestro and the Portuguese icon.

Of his nine goal contributions so far, half have come against teams from lower tiers than Brazil's first division - a goal and assist against Agua Santa, followed by a goal and two assists versus another lower-division opponent, all in the regional competition.

As Santos battle against demotion in the top division, the playmaker no longer seems to be the game-changer he once was.

Nevertheless, Ancelotti has insisted that the forward has ample opportunity to show he is fit for the World Cup.

Ancelotti stirred local debate last month by allegedly attempting to protect Neymar, claiming the star had been omitted from the team over physical condition issues.

But then Neymar himself contradicted this, saying he "was excluded for tactical decisions; it has no connection to my fitness level."

In terms of public perception, it certainly didn't make it any better for Neymar.

Polls from Datafolha found that Brazilians are divided over whether Neymar should be included for his fourth World Cup.

With his 79 goals, Neymar is Brazil's historical leading marksman, but he hasn't helped his case much with his behaviour on the pitch either.

He seems greater frustration than normal, having exchanged words with fans on several occasions in stadiums - it happened in successive games in July.

The next month, the striker was emotional after Santos suffered a six-goal home defeat by their rivals - the heaviest defeat of his career.

When asked by a journalist about his physical state in a game aftermath discussion, he became frustrated: "This topic again, friend? I've responded to this countless times already."

The same kind of question has been posed to his parent representative Neymar Sr as well.

"Neymar's intention was to remain for a limited period at Santos. To what end? To regain fitness. If Neymar was able to feature, amen," he previously explained, causing anger among fans.

There's still a slight hope, however, that Neymar's best days haven't ended and that he will be able to revive his career the same way striker Ronaldo "Fenômeno" did in the 2002 World Cup to surmount skepticism and injuries to lead Brazil to the World Cup title.

The former Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan legend observes comparisons.

"It's an overstatement from a small group who believe he's disregarding his physical recovery.

Those who have been in football recognize fully how challenging it is to return from an setback and restore rhythm and confidence. He's progressing well."

The Santos star has a critical period ahead to show that he's not the prince who abandoned the throne.