Injured Neymar and the collapse with Uruguay. Brazil struggles in World Cup qualifying

Qualification for the 2026 World Cup was supposed to be a walk in the park for Brazil’s star-studded squad, but instead it is slowly and surely becoming a nightmare. After the previous draw with Venezuela, Brazil lost to Uruguay on Tuesday night. In addition, its all-time top scorer Neymar did not finish the match.

Brazil jumped into the game well, controlling the game, although they did not create any great opportunities. Speaking of not having any great opportunities, we must mention the fact that they did not register a single shot in the entire first half, neither on goal nor off target.

For a team with attacking aces like Neymar, Vinicius, Rodrygo or Gabriel Jesus, that’s a disaster.

Uruguay’s first shot, and the only shot on target in the entire first half, was a goal. After a free-kick, Maximiliano Araujo stretched down the left touchline, sent a fierce centre to the penalty spot and England’s Liverpool striker Darwin Núñez gave Ederson no chance in goal.

To make matters worse, Neymar was taken off on a stretcher in the first half after a personal confrontation with one of the opposing players when he misstepped and injured his knee. At first it looked like an ankle injury, which is very common for Neymar. He has already struggled with his ankle several times during his time in Paris or at the World Cup in Qatar.

They are probably least happy in Saudi Arabia, where the Brazilian is paid huge money and has played only 5 games for Al-Hilal so far. In fact, he transferred from Paris with a slight muscle problem which he first had to cure. Now he is out for a change because of his knee and the length of the absence is unclear.

Uruguay entered the second half more lively, while Brazil looked like scalded with hot water. Especially with their lack of focus and easy ball losses, they gave the home team a chance to increase their one-goal lead. The home team threatened mainly from mid-range.

Brazil registered only two shots in the whole match and none of them went on target. First, Gabriel broke away from his keeper after a corner kick and headed wide. Shortly after, Rodrygo took a direct kick and hit the crossbar with a beautiful shot. We vaguely remember the last game in which Brazil didn’t have a shot on target.

Nicolas de la Cruz struck the last blow when he capitalised on a duel between Núñez and the two stoppers to make it 2:0 from the edge of the box. Nothing significant happened until the end of the match and the home team can celebrate a valuable victory over Brazil 2: 0.

Source: CONMEBOL