Brazil's Unquestioned Star? Neymar's Global Tournament Countdown Challenge

While the French winger claimed the prestigious football award in the autumn months, Neymar was lying in bed for his third injury of the year - simultaneously participating in an online poker tournament.

The veteran football star ultimately finished as second place, collecting around £73,800 in tournament winnings.

It was limited solace on a day when he had to watch the player who once replaced him at Barcelona claim the award he had consistently dreamed to win.

Since returning to his boyhood club Santos in January, the 33-year-old forward has fallen short of expectations, attracting more attention for episodes like this than for his football.

His homecoming after a dozen campaigns away was intended as a chance for him to rediscover his best and, most importantly, rekindle a love of football that seemed diminished after frustrating spells with Paris St-Germain and the Saudi club.

Conversely, it has been widely disappointing for each stakeholder.

Such is the situation that the main question being asked right now in Brazil is if Neymar will make it to the upcoming global tournament.

He's facing a deadline.

On midweek, Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti announced his team selection for the upcoming games against Korea Republic and Japan and, once again, Neymar was not in it.

"O Principe", as he was dubbed when received at Santos in a reference to the king Pele, is yet to play under Ancelotti, having been absent from the national team for 24 months.

He continues to be an injury doubt for the autumn fixtures, which, in the worst scenario, will leave him with just a pair of exhibition games in March 2026 to demonstrate his worth to Ancelotti before the revealing of the final list for the World Cup.

"But nobody wins the World Cup single-handedly. Putting all our hopes on him at the moment is difficult because he finds it hard to even play three games in a row."

Not only has Neymar had multiple fitness issues since his homecoming - he's missed nearly half of Santos' matches this campaign - but, when he was able to play, he was a far cry from the player who during his prime competed with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Of his nine goal contributions so far, half have come against teams from lower tiers than Brazil's top flight - a goal and assist against a lower-league side, followed by a goal and two assists versus Inter de Limeira, all in the regional competition.

As Santos fight relegation in the top division, the playmaker no longer seems to be the game-changer he once was.

Nevertheless, Ancelotti has asserted that the forward has ample opportunity to show he is ready for the World Cup.

Ancelotti created local debate last month by allegedly attempting to protect Neymar, stating the star had been excluded from the team over physical condition issues.

But then Neymar himself disputed it, saying he "was excluded for technical reasons; it has no connection to my fitness level."

In terms of fan opinion, it definitely didn't help for Neymar.

Polls from a leading polling institute found that Brazilians are divided over whether Neymar should be called up for his fourth World Cup.

With his record tally, Neymar is Brazil's historical leading marksman, but he hasn't helped his case much with his in-game attitude either.

He seems greater frustration than usual, having confronted fans repeatedly in venues - it occurred in three consecutive matches in mid-year.

The next month, the striker was left in tears after Santos suffered a 6-0 home defeat by Vasco da Gama - the biggest loss of his professional life.

When asked by a journalist about his physical state in a post-match interview, he became frustrated: "This topic again, friend? I've answered this countless times already."

The same kind of question has been posed to his parent representative Neymar Sr as well.

"Neymar's plan was to remain for a limited period at Santos. For what? To regain fitness. If Neymar managed to play, so be it," he previously explained, causing anger among followers.

There's still a slight hope, however, that Neymar's peak years remain possible and that he will be able to revive his career the same way forward Ronaldo "Phenomenon" did in 2002 to surmount doubt and physical setbacks to lead Brazil to the World Cup title.

The Brazilian great sees parallels.

"It's an overstatement from a small group who believe he's disregarding his fitness rehabilitation.

Anyone who have been in football understand completely how hard it is to recover from an setback and restore rhythm and confidence. He's progressing well."

The Santos star has a important timeframe ahead to demonstrate that he's not the prince who abandoned the throne.