Neymar gets upset after mistaken substitution ahead of World Cup squad announcement

The thirty four year old player was suddenly taken off the pitch after claiming that a fourth official had messed up a substitution by removing Neymar instead of his teammate Gonzalo Escobar. This happened even though the forward had only gone off briefly for treatment on his calf.

The fourth official showed the board with number ten and Robinho Jr came on. However as Neymar attempted to get back on the field he was shown a yellow card and then got into a heated argument.

The referee ignored the protests and in desperation Neymar grabbed the substitution note from the officials and displayed it to a TV camera to show Escobar should have been the one substituted.

"The fourth official made an error with the substitution," Santos said in a post on X.

"Television images and the officials note confirmed this. It was an odd mistake that went uncorrected."

The confusion occurred at a bad time for Neymar with Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti due to name his World Cup squad on Monday.

The Italian has indicated that Neymar will be selected on fitness and form rather than emotion. He has six goals and four assists for Santos across all competitions this season.

Although he remains Brazil all time top scorer with 79 goals Neymar has been absent from the national team since 2023 because of injuries and knee surgery that sidelined him for a full year.

The annoyed forward finally departed the pitch and passed the captains armband to Escobar who was the player originally intended for substitution.