{"id":316900,"date":"2026-06-23T14:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T14:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/316900\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T14:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T14:49:09","slug":"neymars-return-looms-in-brazil-scotland-clash-in-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/316900\/","title":{"rendered":"Neymar\u2019s return looms in Brazil-Scotland clash in Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \u201cTartan Army\u201d with joyful, boisterous Scottish fans has invaded South Florida.<\/p>\n

And a sea of Brasileiros clad in their yellow, green and blue is ready to match or top that intensity.<\/p>\n

It will be Samba vs. Kilts.<\/p>\n

Two of the most energetic fanbases in this year\u2019s FIFA World Cup are ready to descend upon Hard Rock Stadium (or Miami Stadium as it\u2019s referred to during the tournament) on Wednesday in anticipation of the match between Brazil and Scotland at 6.<\/p>\n

And while the party will certainly be happening for a few hours before kickoff, the biggest story on the field is the likely return of Brazilian star Neymar, who is expected to be fit to play his first game in this year\u2019s World Cup and first for his home country since 2023.<\/p>\n

Neymar, who has not played in any match since May 17th with Santos FC in Brazil due to a right calf injury, completed his first full training session with Team Brazil on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Neymar, 34, is Brazil\u2019s all-time leading scorer with 79 goals in 129 international matches \u2014 two ahead of the legendary Pel\u00e9. He has scored eight of those goals in World Cup matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all delighted to have him back, back in training and out on the pitch with the rest of us,\u201d Brazil midfielder Lucas Paqueta told reporters after training on Sunday. \u201cHe\u2019s a very important player for our national team; he has a wonderful history here and can still help us a great deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s matchup figures to be one of the more crucial of the final wave of Group phase games.<\/p>\n

Each side can clinch a spot in the knockout stage with a victory as Brazil sits with four points atop Group C and Scotland just behind them and Morocco (4 points), which is also looking to advance if it can beat Haiti (0 points) on Wednesday. Brazil can also clinch a spot with a draw, and can win the group if it wins the goal differential tiebreaker with Morocco in any scenario where the teams finish tied in points.<\/p>\n

Scotland, which is in the World Cup for the first time since 1998, has never advanced to the knockout stage.<\/p>\n

The teams have met five times since 1974, with Brazil winning four of those matches and one ending in a draw.<\/p>\n

\"PHILADELPHIA, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 19: Vinicius Junior #7 of Brazil scores his team’s third goal against Johnny Placide #1 of Haiti during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C match between Brazil and Haiti at Philadelphia Stadium on June 19, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Al Bello\/Getty Images) Al Bello Getty Images <\/p>\n

Neymar\u2019s return couldn\u2019t come at a better time for Brazil.<\/p>\n

During its convincing 3-0 win over Haiti, which followed a 1-1 draw with Morocco, Brazil lost one of its top forwards when Raphinha sustained a hamstring injury. Reports surfaced later that Raphinha could end up leaving the team and not compete in the rest of the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Saturday, Raphinha underwent an imaging \u200bexam that confirmed a muscle injury in the back of his right \u200bthigh,\u201d the Brazilian Football Confederation wrote in a statement released following last Saturday\u2019s match. \u201cThe player will follow an intensive treatment protocol, monitored by the Brazilian national team\u2019s medical staff, with the aim of \u200bfacilitating his recovery and return to action as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PHILADELPHIA, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 19: Raphinha #11 of Brazil shoots against Johnny Placide #1 of Haiti during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C match between Brazil and Haiti at Philadelphia Stadium on June 19, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Al Bello\/Getty Images) Al Bello Getty Images <\/p>\n

Brazil hopes Neymar\u2019s return could help the side compensate for such a tough loss in the hopes of making a run at the title.<\/p>\n

But there are still plenty of questions about the star\u2019s durability after dealing with multiple injuries in recent years. Neymar sustained a severe knee injury in his last game playing for Brazil three years ago \u2014 a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. He has scored six goals in 15 matches this year for Santos, which has been managing his playing time to prevent further injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s performing \u200bat a very high level, \u200band you could see the \u2060intensity in today\u2019s training session,\u201d Brazil\u2019s Gabriel Martinelli said during a news conference Monday. \u201cYou could see how keen he is to be with us, and his quality is unquestionable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brazil still has more World Cup championships than any other country with five, but it has not raised the trophy since 2002.<\/p>\n

Except for a fourth-place finish in 2014, Brazil has not advanced beyond the quarterfinals since that 2002 triumph.<\/p>\n

But Neymar\u2019s return has stirred up excitement among many, and hope that he can lead Brazil back to the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeymar is a really important player for us. We hope he can play in the next game,\u201d Brazil forward Vinicius Jr. said. \u201cWe\u2019re really happy with the progress he\u2019s made (recovering from his injury) and we hope he can come back and help us win the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Andre C. Fernandez<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

Andre Fernandez is the Deputy Sports Editor of the Miami Herald and has covered a wide variety of sports during his career including the Miami Marlins, Miami Heat, Miami Dolphins, University of Miami athletics, and high school sports.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A \u201cTartan Army\u201d with joyful, boisterous Scottish fans has invaded South Florida. And a sea of Brasileiros clad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-316900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}