NEYMAR and Vinicius Jr will play together, Carlo Ancelotti has announced.
The Brazil boss has revealed that the ace will appear alongside the star as the South Americans continue their World Cup campaign.
Carlo Ancelotti announced that Vini Jr will play alongside Neymar Credit: Reuters
The Santos star has only played 14 minutes of this World Cup Credit: Getty
The announcement is a huge boost ahead of their last-16 game against in New Jersey tonight.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Ancelotti said: “ can play 90 minutes… and he can play with Vinicius Jr.
“I think they WILL play together.”
The 34-year-old has registered a single 14-minute appearance from the bench in their 3-0 victory over .
Prior to the tournament, the former PSG star hadn’t played since he picked up a minor calf injury on May 17.
And concerns around Neymar’s fitness continued to cast doubts on how far Ancelotti can push his offensive capabilities.
Neymar made a total of 15 appearances with his Brazilian club across all competitions in the 2025/26 season.
The star’s career has been heavily interrupted with over 45 injuries and more than 270 matches missed since 2017.
And Neymar at a World Cup almost certainly means injury.
He injured his thigh and fractured his vertebra in 2014.
In 2018, he played every 90 minutes of all five matches despite recently recovering from an ankle injury.
But, in Qatar, Neymar missed much of the group stage after receiving a tackle in the opening game against Serbia.
Then, against all odds, the nation’s all-time top goalscorer – with 79 – made his .
‘s Joao Pedro and Tottenham striker were both overlooked in favour of the 2015 winner.
On the other hand, Vini is on the back of a 36-game season in LaLiga with 14 Champions League appearances.
The 25-year-old has played nearly every minute of Selecao’s World Cup games so far, scoring four times and assisting once.
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The Vini-Neymar line-up may prove vital as their Scandinavian opponents will look to continue their Erling Haaland-inspired run through the tournament.
Proving to be dark horses, Norway impressed against and before making ten changes to the starting XI to face .
Haaland scored the decider in their knockout against to set up the meeting with the five-time world champions.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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