Will Neymar, Messi, and Ronaldo play in the 2026 World Cup?

[criptoevangelista]

These three players mentioned here are very good players and will remain figures to remember in the history of football. They have played several world cup tournament and have performed excellently well in their football career. Presently, these players are close to their retirement age, but the still posses good experience, but not enough vigour any longer because of age.
Messi, and Ronaldo are still fit and still featuring in their team's matches, but as for Neymar, injury may not enable him to feature in the world cup.

The three players that everyone is focus on discussion, one is actually missing and that's Neymar. I saw Ronaldo, Vinicious, Mbape and Messi appeared in Lego adverts as world cup adverts, I never expected that combination but with Neymar not been called by Brazil, it means he is done with international football, he is good but the injuries are his set back, it's better he retire with honor than be looking like who is looking for public pity to get a place.

Even Messi and Ronaldo, give them small time they will soon retire from football. There is nothing left for them in football than influencing, they don't look like the two we used to know to be breaking records from different clubs and I'm not sure the two countries Argentina and Portugal will likely go for the final, it's going to be from either France or any other country but France has more chance of winning the world cup than these two old men.

Neymar doesn't even have a market in high-level football anymore. He had to choose to return to his hometown club, which is practically bankrupt and always fighting against relegation in the Brasileirão... I consider Neymar an excellent player who will forever have his place in the history of Brazilian football, but there's also that feeling that he could have dedicated himself more. In the end, it was his own doing; he chose to be a celebrity instead of an athlete, and the price of those choices is weighing on him now. Financially, it was great for him—he secured a comfortable life for generations of his family—but there was a sporting price to pay as well. I don't think there's a right or wrong here, they were just choices.

[katanic97]

These three players mentioned here are very good players and will remain figures to remember in the history of football. They have played several world cup tournament and have performed excellently well in their football career. Presently, these players are close to their retirement age, but the still posses good experience, but not enough vigour any longer because of age.
Messi, and Ronaldo are still fit and still featuring in their team's matches, but as for Neymar, injury may not enable him to feature in the world cup.

The three players that everyone is focus on discussion, one is actually missing and that's Neymar. I saw Ronaldo, Vinicious, Mbape and Messi appeared in Lego adverts as world cup adverts, I never expected that combination but with Neymar not been called by Brazil, it means he is done with international football, he is good but the injuries are his set back, it's better he retire with honor than be looking like who is looking for public pity to get a place.

Even Messi and Ronaldo, give them small time they will soon retire from football. There is nothing left for them in football than influencing, they don't look like the two we used to know to be breaking records from different clubs and I'm not sure the two countries Argentina and Portugal will likely go for the final, it's going to be from either France or any other country but France has more chance of winning the world cup than these two old men.

Neymar doesn't even have a market in high-level football anymore. He had to choose to return to his hometown club, which is practically bankrupt and always fighting against relegation in the Brasileirão... I consider Neymar an excellent player who will forever have his place in the history of Brazilian football, but there's also that feeling that he could have dedicated himself more. In the end, it was his own doing; he chose to be a celebrity instead of an athlete, and the price of those choices is weighing on him now. Financially, it was great for him—he secured a comfortable life for generations of his family—but there was a sporting price to pay as well. I don't think there's a right or wrong here, they were just choices.

Neymar was, in my opinion, easily a top 3 player in the world. He even played a more entertaining style of football than Messi and Ronaldo.His career, like you said, was outstanding, but i think the 2014 injury against Colombia during the world cup really complicated things for him. He recovered, but he was never quite the same after that, unfortunately.At PSG he had some brilliant performances and often carried the team. He didn’t want to live in Messi’s shadow, but then Mbappe emerged and was also performing at a very high level.
I’d still love to see him play for Brazil. Even if he’s no longer in his prime, i think he can help a lot , especially as a captain who can guide and support the younger players

[Sithara007]

Neymar was, in my opinion, easily a top 3 player in the world. He even played a more entertaining style of football than Messi and Ronaldo.His career, like you said, was outstanding, but i think the 2014 injury against Colombia during the world cup really complicated things for him. He recovered, but he was never quite the same after that, unfortunately.At PSG he had some brilliant performances and often carried the team. He didn’t want to live in Messi’s shadow, but then Mbappe emerged and was also performing at a very high level.
I’d still love to see him play for Brazil. Even if he’s no longer in his prime, i think he can help a lot , especially as a captain who can guide and support the younger players

Neymar used to be among the top-3 players, but he stayed there for relatively short period of time. His frequent injury issues meant that he is unavailable for extended durations. On the other hand, Messi and Ronaldo have maintained their position for more than a decade now (and in case of Ronaldo, it is close to two decades). Now if we talk about top-3 footballers currently, I don't think that Neymar will figure in that list. For the third player apart from Messi and Ronaldo, there are multiple contenders. I can think about a few, such as Ousmane Dembélé, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Neymar was, in my opinion, easily a top 3 player in the world. He even played a more entertaining style of football than Messi and Ronaldo.His career, like you said, was outstanding, but i think the 2014 injury against Colombia during the world cup really complicated things for him. He recovered, but he was never quite the same after that, unfortunately.At PSG he had some brilliant performances and often carried the team. He didn’t want to live in Messi’s shadow, but then Mbappe emerged and was also performing at a very high level.
I’d still love to see him play for Brazil. Even if he’s no longer in his prime, i think he can help a lot , especially as a captain who can guide and support the younger players

Neymar used to be among the top-3 players, but he stayed there for relatively short period of time. His frequent injury issues meant that he is unavailable for extended durations. On the other hand, Messi and Ronaldo have maintained their position for more than a decade now (and in case of Ronaldo, it is close to two decades). Now if we talk about top-3 footballers currently, I don't think that Neymar will figure in that list. For the third player apart from Messi and Ronaldo, there are multiple contenders. I can think about a few, such as Ousmane Dembélé, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.

Have to agree with you on that last statement, if really we are to talk about the top three players of all time at the moment, indeed Neymar will not make the list for me as well. It's definitely going to be Messi, Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe for me..

Erling Haaland is also a top contender but he is not better than Mbappe for me, I've watch Haaland play alot of times, and I've also watched Mbappe play alot of time as well, and to be honest, Haaland may actually be much better than Mbappe when it comes to scoring goals, but when it comes to speed, attack, dribbling and some other features/skills of a good player, Haaland doesn't come close to being compared to Mbappe cus for me, Mbappe is far better.
But then, I understand we all have our choices though, for the other players you mentioned which I didn't consider, I've not watched them play as much as I've watch this two I talked about play, so it's impossible for me to really judge how good or not they are.

[BlackBoss_]

Erling Haaland is also a top contender but he is not better than Mbappe for me, I've watch Haaland play alot of times, and I've also watched Mbappe play alot of time as well, and to be honest, Haaland may actually be much better than Mbappe when it comes to scoring goals, but when it comes to speed, attack, dribbling and some other features/skills of a good player, Haaland doesn't come close to being compared to Mbappe cus for me, Mbappe is far better.
But then, I understand we all have our choices though, for the other players you mentioned which I didn't consider, I've not watched them play as much as I've watch this two I talked about play, so it's impossible for me to really judge how good or not they are.

Haaland is very strong physically and very goal productive but he belongs to a different type of player in comparison with Mbappe. In addition, he is not too independent striker like Ibrahimovic and Haaland more relies on his team mates for key passes and assists in order to make his shots and score goals. With Haaland, if his teammates play bad and can not control the match intensity, have enough good ball possession, and give him enough key passes, he will be more like a harmless striker. In fact we have all witnessed such bad matches from Haaland many times and this Norwegian striker has to upgrade his skills a lot be reach to a level of Ibrahimovic.

Mbappe is more independent player but he is not too good at dribbling like Thiery Henry and somewhat Mbappe needs good passes from his teammates to open the space for him, so that he will be able to use his super fast speed for breaking opponent defense system.

[swogerino]

I think they all are more than willing to play in this 2026 World Cup because most probably for them is going to be their last one. So if I were them I would never reject or refuse this possibility even being a starting from bench player I would love to be there to help my team when the time comes. They are all still in great physical shape and we all know their skill capability no matter that they may be relatively old in age compared to other players as 40 or 41 is not a common age to be playing football nowadays.

[m4r1o]

Haaland is very strong physically and very goal productive but he belongs to a different type of player in comparison with Mbappe. In addition, he is not too independent striker like Ibrahimovic and Haaland more relies on his team mates for key passes and assists in order to make his shots and score goals. With Haaland, if his teammates play bad and can not control the match intensity, have enough good ball possession, and give him enough key passes, he will be more like a harmless striker. In fact we have all witnessed such bad matches from Haaland many times and this Norwegian striker has to upgrade his skills a lot be reach to a level of Ibrahimovic.

Mbappe is more independent player but he is not too good at dribbling like Thiery Henry and somewhat Mbappe needs good passes from his teammates to open the space for him, so that he will be able to use his super fast speed for breaking opponent defense system.

I don't like Haaland as a player, he are an air player who makes little movement in other areas of the pitch, but i must say that he also has a wide progression with and without the ball, whereas in my opinion Mbappe is a complete player in every other phase of the game, in fact only recently has he become a pure striker.

[changaa]

Neymar was, in my opinion, easily a top 3 player in the world. He even played a more entertaining style of football than Messi and Ronaldo.His career, like you said, was outstanding, but i think the 2014 injury against Colombia during the world cup really complicated things for him. He recovered, but he was never quite the same after that, unfortunately.At PSG he had some brilliant performances and often carried the team. He didn?t want to live in Messi?s shadow, but then Mbappe emerged and was also performing at a very high level.
I?d still love to see him play for Brazil. Even if he?s no longer in his prime, i think he can help a lot , especially as a captain who can guide and support the younger players

not only in your opinion, in my opinion there are many who think this, myself included, unfortunately everyone is getting older, even for him and it depends on whether he manages to do the whole world championship in a sufficient way.
also right what you say about the injury, this certainly weighed a lot.

[|MINER|]

not only in your opinion, in my opinion there are many who think this, myself included, unfortunately everyone is getting older, even for him and it depends on whether he manages to do the whole world championship in a sufficient way.
also right what you say about the injury, this certainly weighed a lot.

True.
And at the same time, I will also say that we can only guess how big an obstacle an injury can be to a football player's career if we keep an eye on Neymar's career.
For example, you mentioned a major injury here, which is basically the main obstacle to Neymar's career and the tendency to drop in performance has increased. Otherwise, I also think that Neymar had the potential to be at a better level than Messi and Ronaldo are at now.

[katanic97]

Neymar was, in my opinion, easily a top 3 player in the world. He even played a more entertaining style of football than Messi and Ronaldo.His career, like you said, was outstanding, but i think the 2014 injury against Colombia during the world cup really complicated things for him. He recovered, but he was never quite the same after that, unfortunately.At PSG he had some brilliant performances and often carried the team. He didn?t want to live in Messi?s shadow, but then Mbappe emerged and was also performing at a very high level.
I?d still love to see him play for Brazil. Even if he?s no longer in his prime, i think he can help a lot , especially as a captain who can guide and support the younger players

not only in your opinion, in my opinion there are many who think this, myself included, unfortunately everyone is getting older, even for him and it depends on whether he manages to do the whole world championship in a sufficient way.
also right what you say about the injury, this certainly weighed a lot.

It didn’t just have a big impact , like I said, after that injury I’ve never seen the same Neymar again. Not that he wasn’t good, he was still playing great, but I think it affected him more mentally than physically.I’d really like Ancelotti to call him up, i honestly would. If we can watch Messi and Ronaldo, we can watch Neymar too

[Felicity_Tide]

Today I saw two interesting predictions on Polymarket
I just didn’t see one for Cristiano Ronaldo

~snip

But I’m going to ask you guys. If you were to bet, what would your bets be?
Will all three play in the 2026 World Cup, which will likely be their last?
Or will one of them be left out?

I'm not sure of how I managed to miss this thread. This is quite an interesting topic considering the fact that the 3 of them are the most rated in the world football, and they're aging already. If I'm to pick with certainty, l will start with Lionel Messi. He's likely to be part of the squad because he's an important figure in the team. The Argentina national team has been built around him, so I don't see reasons why he should be left out. As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he's also a key figure for Portugal national team. He's also going to be called up with no doubts. But as for Neymar Jr, I can't really say the same.

Let's take injuries aside, I feel Ancelotti might want to go to this World cup without him. They have far more in form players that can lead the attack. Even if Ancelotti calls him, what are the chances that he's going to get a starting position after so many months out?. I think the whole thing is a bit complicated, but we can only wait to see the manager's call up list. Let's not forget that Ancelotti has already identified players with guaranteed slots, so maybe Neymar Jr can luckily make it to the remaining available slot.

[tread93]

Messi and Ronaldo are definitely going to play if all other factors remain constant, such as no injuries. As for Neymar, I am a bit doubtful whether he will play even if he is injury free. His situation has been a little complicated with the past injuries, mostly at the club level, so he may lack the much-needed fitness. Brazil may not miss much of his presence or influence like Argentina and Portugal would for Messi and Ronaldo, respectively.

Is there anything more dissapointing in sports betting than having your winning ticket and star player incur and injury? Ugh, this has happened to me so much in fantasy football and its so maddening. The crazy thing is that now there are bets on whether or not a player will get injured or not and it will pay out. I hope that they all have a chance to play in the world cup, they are all fantastic futbol players! I am super excited for the world cup and will be tuning in.

[Joeboy]

I'm not sure of how I managed to miss this thread. This is quite an interesting topic considering the fact that the 3 of them are the most rated in the world football, and they're aging already. If I'm to pick with certainty, l will start with Lionel Messi. He's likely to be part of the squad because he's an important figure in the team. The Argentina national team has been built around him, so I don't see reasons why he should be left out. As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he's also a key figure for Portugal national team. He's also going to be called up with no doubts. But as for Neymar Jr, I can't really say the same.

Let's take injuries aside, I feel Ancelotti might want to go to this World cup without him. They have far more in form players that can lead the attack. Even if Ancelotti calls him, what are the chances that he's going to get a starting position after so many months out?. I think the whole thing is a bit complicated, but we can only wait to see the manager's call up list. Let's not forget that Ancelotti has already identified players with guaranteed slots, so maybe Neymar Jr can luckily make it to the remaining available slot.

The list as been out since, don't tell me that you haven't seen the list yet... Neymar name is not in the list, and Neymar Jr. himself has been trying so hard especially at his club at Santos FC to make appearance and give assist, so that Ancelotti could reconsider his decision and add him to the list of 2026 Word Cup players... Neymar Jr. is a good player infact the most expensive player at that time he was in PSG, if not for this injury that destroyed his career, he would have also been placed in the same category with Messi and Ronaldo, infact ehn Ancelotti would have been he one begging Neymar to play in the World Cup.... And with the way things  are going I dont even think that Ancelotti would reconsider his decision to adding Neymar to the squad...

[Italian Panic]

It didn’t just have a big impact , like I said, after that injury I’ve never seen the same Neymar again. Not that he wasn’t good, he was still playing great, but I think it affected him more mentally than physically.I’d really like Ancelotti to call him up, i honestly would. If we can watch Messi and Ronaldo, we can watch Neymar too

We will certanly watch Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (barring injuries), but I think Neymar’s days with the brasil national team are definitely over, unless there’s political pressure on Ancelotti to include him even if he’s not in top form. But I don’t know how the team would react to that. Neymar decided long ago to become an ex football player, more or less when he left Barcelona.

[rdluffy]

With Neymar’s return to the fields, his chances of playing in the World Cup have increased
At least according to Polymarket users   

What was previously at 38% has now jumped to 57%
Anyone who held that position can now sell at a profit, hehe



https://polymarket.com/event/will-neymar-play-in-the-2026-fifa-world-cup-for-brazil

[TastyChillySauce00]

With Neymar’s return to the fields, his chances of playing in the World Cup have increased
At least according to Polymarket users   

What was previously at 38% has now jumped to 57%
Anyone who held that position can now sell at a profit, hehe



https://polymarket.com/event/will-neymar-play-in-the-2026-fifa-world-cup-for-brazil

Neymar has been included in the Brazil's preliminary squad. It decrease the chart to be 50% because the decision for him to be included or not in the world cup is gonna be released next weeks. So we finally come to the climax after months of predict him to play or not in the World Cup.
However, i believe he will be included in he Brazil's world cup squad because they have lost several wingers such as Estevao due to the injury. It seems people who hold "YES" shares are gonna win it.

[Bobrox]

Recently Brazil national team head coach already including Neymar in the waiting list players and I don't know how many people brave place bet Neymar will play at World Cup 2026, the waiting list players usually difficult get calling for the national team in the World Cup during if main players not injury and keep waiting until the opportunity having. I think many people not really know about Neymar including not in the primary squad list for playing at World Cup 2026 but his name on the waiting list only get chance to play for national team if mains players have problem with injury.
Neymar can't participants if the main squad of Brazil national team not get injury and Carlo Ancelotti not make any rotation during the World Cup, in my opinion will place No for any betting Neymar will play at World Cup 2026? Because so far his name only at waiting players not in the list of regular players.

[Sithara007]

Recently Brazil national team head coach already including Neymar in the waiting list players and I don't know how many people brave place bet Neymar will play at World Cup 2026, the waiting list players usually difficult get calling for the national team in the World Cup during if main players not injury and keep waiting until the opportunity having. I think many people not really know about Neymar including not in the primary squad list for playing at World Cup 2026 but his name on the waiting list only get chance to play for national team if mains players have problem with injury.
Neymar can't participants if the main squad of Brazil national team not get injury and Carlo Ancelotti not make any rotation during the World Cup, in my opinion will place No for any betting Neymar will play at World Cup 2026? Because so far his name only at waiting players not in the list of regular players.

It is not a waiting list of players. It is called the "preliminary squad". Carlo Ancelotti announced the squad a few days back, and he included Neymar in that. But the catch here is that more than 50 players have been shortlisted for the squad, and when the final list will be declared, less than half of these players will make the cut. I still believe that Neymar will be selected for the final squad. BTW, the last time that Neymar played for Brazil was almost three years ago, in 17th October 2023. Since then, he has played a number of matches for the Brazilian side Santos FC, but hasn't played for the national team.

[rdluffy]

The odds of Neymar now are at 54%, and I think that accurately reflects the current situation

Neymar has been able to play in Santos’ matches
And just today, a few hours ago, I saw a news report that coach Ancelotti reiterated that whether Neymar is called up depends entirely on him
His physical condition is what will determine whether he’s called up or not

It seems his chances have improved now

Here's the news, but it's in Portuguese: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/selecao-brasileira/noticia/2026/05/13/ancelotti-sobre-convocar-neymar-para-a-copa-do-mundo-depende-apenas-dele.ghtml

[348Judah]

I know that they won't make the disclosure by now if Neymar is going to made it up to the list or not play, because they can't still predict on any possible occurrence before then, but honey not sure it is better we still go on the fact that they are yet to conclude on him, but let's assume if at all he is well fit, then we consider him for playing the world cup because there is nothing to use as an excuse for not including him in playing for his country.