Neymar will be ruled out of Brazil’s next World Cup match after injuring his ankle in his team’s opening win against Serbia, the team doctor said on Friday.
The Paris Saint-Germain star suffered an injury in Thursday’s 2-0 win against Serbia when he collided with Nikola Milenkovic during the second half.
The 30-year-old tried to continue but was substituted with around 10 minutes to go and has an examination on Friday.
Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) doctor Rodrigo Lassmar said the 30-year-old had suffered “ligament damage” and would miss Monday’s match against Switzerland.
Brazil right-back Danilo will also miss the second Group G match with an ankle strain.
“We will not have these two players for the next match, but they will continue their treatment with the aim of recovering in time for the rest of the competition,” the doctor said in a video released by the CBF.
Coach Tite was optimistic after the Serbia match that Neymar would return to lead Brazil’s bid for a record-extending sixth World Cup crown.
“You can be sure Neymar will play in the World Cup,” Tite said.
– injury prone –
Neymar’s career has been plagued by injuries which have affected his last two World Cups.
In 2014 he broke his back bone in the quarter-final win over Colombia, meaning he was sidelined when Germany beat the hosts 7–1 in the semi-finals.
Four years later he raced to recover from injury in time for the tournament in Russia, but Brazil failed to reach the expected heights before losing to Belgium in the last eight.
The former Barcelona star, who has 122 caps for Brazil, also missed the 2019 Copa America after suffering torn ligaments in his right ankle.
Neymar was ruled out for around 10 weeks of the French season in 2021 due to ligament damage in his left ankle.
He arrived in Qatar fit and healthy this time after an impressive start to the season with PSG, in which he has scored 15 goals in 20 appearances.
Neymar, playing in his third and possibly last World Cup, needs just two goals to equal Pele’s all-time record of 77 for the South American nation.
Brazil have an impressive array of attacking talent including Richardson – who scored both Brazil’s goals against Serbia – Rafinha and Vinicius Júnior and they were able to bring Rodrigo and Gabriel Jesus off the bench on Thursday.