São Paulo (Brazil), May 28 (IANS) Brazilian star Neymar Jr suffered a big setback to his hopes of playing in the side’s first match in the FIFA World Cup 2026, to be played in the USA, Mexico, and Canada from June 11, as he has been ruled out of the upcoming international friendly matches.

Brazil are set to play Panama in Brasília on Sunday and will take the field for their second warmup match against Egypt on June 5, and the country’s all-time leading scorer is likely to miss both the friendlies.

Neymar, who joined the national camp on Wednesday, missed the first World Cup training session and had to undergo “further medical evaluations” on his bruised right calf, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced.

Scans carried out on Neymar have confirmed a Grade 2 calf injury, and according to the CBF medical department, this is the same injury that had sidelined the forward since May 17, when he last featured in Santos’ defeat to Coritiba in Brazil’s national league.

CBF doctor Rodrigo Lasmar confirmed to the local media that the veteran forward will need around two to three weeks to recover, leaving his hopes hanging by a thread.

Neymar had reported to camp earlier Wednesday, joining the rest of the squad at the five-time world champions’ training center in Teresópolis, outside Rio de Janeiro. Pending the results of the final medical tests, it appears highly unlikely that Neymar will feature in Brazil’s first warm-up friendly ahead of the World Cup this coming Sunday against Panama in Brasília.

On Tuesday, Neymar played down concerns about his availability for the World Cup after watching Santos beat Deportivo Cuenca 3-0 in a Copa Sudamericana game at Vila Belmiro, ESPN Brasil reported on Wednesday. When asked about his injury problem, Neymar shot back: “What problem?”

Right-back Danilo was the only other absentee in the first practice from the group of 23 players that reported to manager Carlo Ancelotti. Danilo played the full 90 minutes.

–IANS

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