Neymar will ‘clearly’ make it to the World Cup, says Brazil teammate Matheus Cunha

After the excitement sparked by Neymar’s call-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, concern quickly followed. The Santos forward suffered an injury that will require a considerable recovery period, raising doubts about his availability to compete in North America. Brazil teammate Matheus Cunha addressed the situation.

“I think his injury will clearly give him the opportunity to arrive in good shape for our objective,” Cunha said during a press conference held this week in Teresopolis, where the national team has been gathered since Wednesday working under coach Carlo Ancelotti.

The Manchester United forward dismissed concerns surrounding Ney’s physical condition, making it clear that within the squad they trust their biggest star will be fully fit to play in the World Cup.

However, Cunha also admitted he was “sad” to learn about the injuries suffered by certain players who will not be able to be in North America 2026, such as Rodrygo, Eder Militao and Estevao. “Nobody wants to go through that,” he added.

Neymar’s recovery timeline

After Neymar’s grade-two calf injury was confirmed, Brazil national team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar estimated a recovery timeline of “two to three weeks” for the forward. That leaves him with barely enough time to be ready for the World Cup.

Brazil will play a home friendly against Panama on Sunday, May 31, after which they will travel to the United States. There they will play their final warm-up match on June 6 against Egypt before beginning the countdown to their debut on June 13 against Morocco.

The debate over Brazil’s No. 10 jersey

With Neymar returning to the Brazil national team after an absence of nearly three years, debate has started over who should wear the No. 10 jersey. The Santos forward owned that number for a decade, but during his absence other players such as Rodrygo and Vinicius wore it.

Matheus Cunha wears the No. 10 jersey at Manchester United, which positions him as another contender in that discussion. However, he downplayed the issue. “The number someone is wearing matters very little,” Cunha said when asked whether Neymar should get it back. “We saw his reaction to returning. Someone so great showing all that pride about being back. The issue of the numbers is completely out of our hands.”

In that way, Cunha chose not to get involved in the jersey number debate at all, a different stance from some of his teammates. In fact, Vinicius said days ago that Neymar should undoubtedly be the one wearing Brazil’s No. 10 jersey. “I don’t know what number I’ll wear at the World Cup, but the No. 10 belongs to Neymar, that’s obvious,” Vini said in an interview with CazeTV.