Neymar’s return to action for Brazil will be delayed yet longer after the forward was ruled out of his country’s squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers on Friday due to a thigh injury.

Brazil have been without their star since October 2023, when he tore the ACL and meniscus in his left knee. He had been named in Brazil’s squad for the matches against Colombia and Argentina later this month after returning to fitness following a move to boyhood club Santos in the January transfer window.

However, he picked up a muscular problem in Santos’ 2-0 win against Bragantino on March 2 and the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed Friday that Neymar has been cut from the squad along with Manchester City goalkeeper Éderson and Flamengo’s Danilo.

In their place, Brazil have called up Real Madrid’s teenage forward Endrick, as well as Lyon goalkeeper Lucas Perri and Flamengo defender Alex Sandro.

“Following the original call-up, the Brazil national team’s medical department has been updating us regarding the situation of all the players, especially Danilo from Flamengo, Neymar from Santos, and Ederson from Manchester City,” Brazil coach Dorival Jr. said through a CBF statement.

“After the evaluations carried out, we decided to call up Lucas Perri from Lyon, Alex Sandro from Flamengo, and Endrick from Real Madrid to replace the injured players.”

Brazil, who sit fifth in the South American World Cup qualifying table, will host Colombia on Thursday before visiting rival Argentina on March 25. The top six teams qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.