Endrick of Real Madrid is called up by Brazil to replace Neymar, who is injured

Brazil’s FA said on Friday that it has called up teenage Real Madrid striker Endrick to start in the World Cup qualifiers this month in place of the injured Neymar.

In late 2023, Santos striker Neymar was scheduled to return to the Brazil squad after missing over a year because of a knee injury.

A muscle issue, however, has prevented the 33-year-old from playing in the World Cup qualifiers against Argentina and Colombia.

Along with this, coach Dorival Jr. called up Olympique Lyonnais goalkeeper Lucas Perri to replace Manchester City’s Ederson and Flamengo defender Alex Sandro to replace colleague Danilo.

“Over the last few days, the Brazilian national team’s medical department has been updating us on the situation of all the players, especially Danilo, Neymar and Ederson,” Dorival Jr. told CBF in a statement.

“The national team’s medical staff provided us with an update on each player’s condition following the evaluations. We are so summoning Endrick from Real Madrid, Alex Sandro from Flamengo, and Lucas Perri from Lyon.”

Fifth in the CONMEBOL standings with 18 points from 12 games, Brazil will host Colombia in fourth place on March 21 and travel to Argentina, the league leaders, five days later.

In the United States, Mexico, and Canada, the top six teams earn direct entry to the 2026 World Cup.