Brazil Couldn’t Kill Its Idol, So It Brought Him Along To The World Cup

It's almost time for the World Cup. Before the tournament, we'll be previewing each of the top 15 teams by FIFA rankings that made the tournament. Why the top 15? Because that's how many we needed to do in order for the USMNT to make the cut. You can read all of our previews here.

It's quite possible that the best moment of Brazil's 2026 World Cup happened a month before the tournament even started. The day was May 18, the occasion the announcement of World Cup roster. The tension was high, almost all of it weighing on whether or not Neymar, in what would be his first Brazil appearance in two years, would get called up. When manager Carlo Ancelotti did read his name, the country went wild.