Neymar Won't Play for Brazil Against Haiti, Still Recovery for 2026 World Cup Knockout Stage

Neymar will not play or travel with Brazil to Philadelphia for the 2026 World Cup Group C match against Haiti.

"He will remain in New Jersey to optimize the final phase of his recovery process, taking advantage of the excellent facilities at The Ridge hotel and Columbia Park training center," CBF said on Thursday, June 18, 2026, local time.

The 34-year-old, who has been out for a month with a right calf injury, trained in uniform and joined his Brazil teammates for the first time during the 2026 World Cup in a club training on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Morristown, New Jersey.

He took to the field with Raphinha, Bruno Guimaraes, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Fabinho, and joked with members of the media, saying "Did you miss me?"

After some initial training with the team, Neymar returned to the sidelines to continue individual training with the Brazil team coach.

He also trained alone on the sidelines on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, for the first time since arriving in the United States.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward had his first run of training and worked with coach Carlo Ancelotti's staff on Tuesday.

Neymar - who is still recovering from a Grade II muscle injury - repeated the medical examination he underwent a week ago. The results have not been confirmed by the CBF.

Brazilian media said team medical staff hope Neymar can return fully fit for the knockout stages, meaning he will miss matches against Haiti and Scotland in Group C.

Neymar has not played for Brazil since October 17, 2023, when he suffered an ACL and meniscus injury in his left knee while playing for the Samba Team in the South American World Cup Qualification against Uruguay in Montevideo.

According to Transfermarkt, since then he has never worn the Brazilian uniform again and has been absent for about 700 days due to injury, recovery, and rest,

Neymar was on the bench when Brazil drew 1-1 against Morocco, but he was not wearing the team's uniform.

"Neymar is working very hard to recover as soon as possible. Our hope is that he will recover and rejoin the team next week."

"When we put him on the list of players, we added him because of his technical ability, which is beyond doubt. However, we also want him because of his experience and the example he sets for the young players in the team," Ancelotti said before the match against Morocco last week.

As is known, Neymar was called up by Brazil for the 2026 World Cup despite suffering a calf injury while playing for Santos on May 17, 2026 and has not returned to training since then.

Brazil, who drew 1-1 with Morocco last week, will play Haiti on Saturday, June 20, 2026, morning WIB, before meeting Scotland in the final Group C match on June 25, 2026 WIB.