World Cup Hopes Hit Snag After Substitution Mix-Up for Neymar

Neymar shows referee’s slip to camera in angry protest

Neymar furious as officials pull him off instead of teammate. The 34-year-old received a yellow card protesting the error before showing the slip to TV cameras.

Neymar has six goals and four assists for Santos this season but hasn’t played for Brazil since 2023...

Neymar’s last chance to impress Brazil’s World Cup selectors ended in chaos on Sunday. Officials mistakenly substituted him during Santos’ 3-0 loss to Coritiba.

The 34-year-old was taken off after the fourth official signaled his number 10 instead of teammate Gonzalo Escobar. Neymar had only left the pitch briefly for treatment on his calf. Robinho Jr came on in his place.

When Neymar tried to return, he was shown a yellow card and launched into an angry protest. The referee ignored his complaints, so Neymar grabbed the substitution slip and held it up to a TV camera. He was trying to show that Escobar was the player meant to be taken off.

“The fourth official got the substitution wrong,” Santos said in a post on X.

“This was confirmed by the television coverage and by the note used by the officials ‌during the substitution. An inexplicable error that was not corrected.”

The timing could not have been worse for Neymar, with Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti due to name his World Cup squad on Monday.

🤯🇧🇷 Chaos in Brazil as Neymar was ACCIDENTALLY substituted after a mix-up from the fourth official during Santos’ game.

Neymar immediately showed the camera he wasn’t supposed to come off… but the officials REFUSED to let him back onto the pitch. 🤬 pic.twitter.com/I2TpibvWZX

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) May 17, 2026

Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear that selection will come down to fitness and form, not reputation. Neymar has scored six goals and provided four assists for Santos in all competitions this season.

He remains Brazil’s all-time top scorer with 79 goals, but has not featured for the national team since 2023. Injuries and a knee surgery kept him out for a year.

After the incident, Neymar left the pitch in frustration and passed the captain’s armband to Escobar, the player who should have been substituted.