Neymar breaks into tears after being named in Brazil's FIFA World Cup 2026 squad; reacts ‘we made it dad, we made it’

After months of speculation, Neymar finally made it to the Brazil's FIFA World Cup 2026 squad on Monday. Aged 34 years, Neymar's inclusion in the 26-member Brazil squad deemed unlikely a few days ago considering his fitness struggles following a ACL tear in Octoner 2023. But head coach Carlo Ancelotti kept faith in Brazil's all-time top scorer with 79 goals.

“He has improved his fitness,” Ancelotti told reporters at Rio de Janeiro on Neymar. "He will be an important player in this World Cup." We chose Neymar not because we think he'll be a good substitute. We chose Neymar because we believe he can help the team, whether it's for one minute, five minutes, 90 minutes or even taking a penalty," Ancelotti added.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Neymar, who currently plays for Santos in Brazilian Serie A, was watching the Brazilian squad announcement along with his family an friends. Soon after his name was announced, the former Barcelona superstar broke into tears and hugged his closed ones.

He, in fact video called his father, and said, “we did it, dad, we did it. We made it dad, we made it” with tears flowing down his eyes. Notably, this was the first time Ancelloti called Neymar in the national squad after taking charge in May 2025. Neymar has so far scored 79 goals for Brazil.

Brazil's FIFA World Cup 2026 squad

Goalkeepers: Alisson, Ederson, Weverton;

Defenders: Alex Sandro, Danilo, Léo Pereira, Bremer, Ibanez, Wesley, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães, Douglas Santos;

Midfielders: Bruno Guimarães, Casemiro, Danilo, Fabinho, Lucas Paquetá;

Forwards: Endrick, Gabriel Martinelli, Igor Thiago, Matheus Cunha, Raphinha, Vinícius Júnior, Luiz Henrique, Neymar, Rayan

Brazil will start their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign against Morocco in New Jersey on June 13, followed by matches against Haiti and Scotland.

Neymar at FIFA World Cup for Brazil

Neymar first World Cup appearance came in 2014 on home soil, but had to leave the field in a stretcher with a back injury in a win over Colombia in the quarterfinal. However, a Neymar-led Brazil were hammered 1-7 by Germany in the semifinals. He gained redemption to lead Brazil to an Olympic gold at Rio Olympics in 2016 in front of his own fans at the Maracana.

However, Neymar failed to leave an impact in the 2018 and 2020 editions as Brazil were ousted in the quarterfinals. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be Neymar's fourth and probably his last.

Having left the European spotlight back in 2023 after leaving Paris Saint-Germain for Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, he suffered a knee injury just after two months and didn't return. The last time Neymar played for Brazil was in 2023 in a 0-2 defeat to Uruguay in a World Cup qualifying game.

In that game, Neymar was carried off on a stretcher teary-eyed with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Earlier, the likes of Marquinhos and Raphinha publicly spoke about Neymar's inclusion at FIFA World Cup 2026.

“As team-mates, as Brazilians and as fans, we want him at the World Cup,” Brazil captain Marquinhos had said to media in march. “He’s the guy to take us to our sixth World Cup title,” Raphinha said earlier this month.