Brazil’s World Cup hopes have received a significant lift after forward Neymar made encouraging progress in his recovery from a calf injury, while the Netherlands suffered an injury setback with defender Jurrien Timber ruled out of the tournament.
The Brazilian Football Confederation said a follow-up medical examination showed Neymar’s rehabilitation was progressing as expected following a grade-two muscle tear suffered last month.
Brazil’s all-time leading scorer had been expected to spend between two and three weeks on the sidelines and has already missed warm-up victories against Panama and Egypt. However, the latest update keeps him in contention for Brazil’s World Cup opener against Morocco on 13 June.
The 34-year-old, who currently plays for Santos FC after returning to his boyhood club last year, is aiming to feature in a fourth World Cup. Neymar has scored 79 goals in 128 appearances for Brazil and remains a key figure in the team’s ambitions despite a series of injury setbacks in recent seasons, including a serious knee injury suffered in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands have been forced into a squad change after Timber failed to recover sufficiently from a groin problem. The Arsenal FC defender had only recently returned to action, appearing as a substitute in the UEFA Champions League Final after nearly three months out.
The Royal Dutch Football Association said the 24-year-old’s participation was not medically advisable and confirmed he would leave the squad’s training camp. Head coach Ronald Koeman has called up Lutsharel Geertruida as his replacement ahead of the Dutch side’s opening Group F match against Japan.
