Revealed: Neymar's $6m windfall after World Cup call

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FT Desk

Neymar is said to be worth between $350 million and $450m and that wealth increased by a cool $6m this week after the superstar was confirmed as part of Brazil's World Cup squad.

The Santos forward has not played for the Selecao since October of 2023 when he suffered a serious knee injury. In Brazil, the headlines heading into the 2026 World Cup have been dominated by Neymar and whether or not he was going to be called up by head coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Neymar's career has taken a downturn over the last few years as after a lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League with Al-Hilal, he struggled with form and injuries which eventually led to a return to his first club, Santos.

Even though he hasn't been the swashbuckling star we all know, Ancelotti has taken a punt on his abilities to name him in the Brazil squad at the expense of Chelsea's Joao Pedro.

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Neymar's reaction to being included in the squad alongside his family has already gained millions of views on social media and the man himself was naturally overwhelmed with joy to be going to North America.

As well as playing at the World Cup one final time, there was also a financial incentive to being called up as within one hour of the squad announcement, he had made $6m in endorsements from three companies quick to jump on the bandwagon.

Marca reports that promos with Mercado Livre, Puma and Red Bull were agreed and partnership videos were published half an hour after his inclusion was confirmed by Ancelotti.

These were worth 10 million Brazilian reais each, which totals to around $6m.

Despite his career downturn, Neymar remains one of the most bankable and marketable footballers in the world and his social media following his only bettered by Cristiano and Lionel Messi. After he put out those three promos, he gained another 1.1 million followers on his socials.

In terms of the World Cup itself, it's unclear how much game time Neymar will actually receive from Ancelotti as their are players in their prime such as Vinicius Junior and Raphinha who are now the talismen for Brazil.

Ancelotti's men are in a group alongside Morocco, Haiti and Scotland and their first fixture comes against the African nation at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 13 June.

Brazil go into every tournament as one of the favourites to win it not only due to the talent at their disposal, but due to their history at the World Cup as they are the only country to have won it on five occasions, with those victories coming in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002.

By the Selecao's World Cup standards, they are in a bit of a drought when it comes to a win on the biggest stage of them all and they have turned to veteran head coach Ancelotti to bring back the glory days.