No Neymar on the pitch, no Rodrygo on the bench — Brazil open their World Cup without two of their biggest stars
Ancelotti confirmed Neymar will not play against Morocco. Rodrygo, injured, is travelling to the US only to cheer from the stands. Brazil kick off without two of their most important names.
No Neymar on the pitch, no Rodrygo on the bench. Brazil open their 2026 World Cup campaign against Morocco with two absences that weigh heavily — and in very different ways.
Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed it: Neymar will not play on Saturday. The 34-year-old forward is still recovering from a calf injury and has not yet returned to full training with the squad. The manager expects him to rejoin the group next week — which already casts doubt over whether the No. 10 will even be fit for Brazil's second match, against Haiti on 20 June.
"Neymar is working very hard to recover as quickly as possible," Ancelotti said. The coach was also keen to underline the player's value beyond the pitch: "When we called up Neymar, we did so not only for his technical quality, which is beyond question, but also for the experience and the example he can set for the younger players."
Neymar has not played for the national team since 2023. Even so, he was chosen ahead of João Pedro and Richarlison. His record stands at 79 goals in 128 appearances — Brazil's all-time leading scorer, ahead of Pelé.
Rodrygo carries a different kind of pain. The forward from Osasco did not make the squad and is travelling to the United States only to watch the games and continue the rehabilitation of the knee he injured in March. "Seeing the squad announcement knowing I wasn't in it was hard," the player wrote, according to The Guardian. But he is not hiding his hope: he believes in Ancelotti and in the group.
The memory of 2022 still stings. It was Livakovic, Croatia's goalkeeper, who stopped Rodrygo in the quarter-finals — and that penalty exit still haunts him. Getting back to a World Cup in a Brazil shirt has become an obsession. This time, he will have to wait.
Golmetria's model gives Brazil a 91.5% chance of advancing from the group stage — but the opener, without Neymar, already begins under real pressure. Morocco are no side to underestimate: they reached the semi-finals in 2022 and have a 76% chance of also advancing at this World Cup.
The match is on Saturday, in New Jersey. The sixth star begins — or stumbles — without their greatest name.