Neymar is incandescent on touchline after being substituted by accident in rare mistake

Neymar was involved in a furious altercation with the officials after being victim of a bizarre unintentional substitution.

It came after the Santos forward had been substituted by accident a bizarre mix-up involving the fourth official.

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The Santos captain was replaced by Robinho Junior in the 65th minute of Sunday’s Serie A clash against Coritiba.

What happened

Neymar had been receiving treatment at the side of the pitch before he was withdrawn.

However, it quickly became apparent that he was not the player Santos intended to take off.

Instead, the fourth official had put the wrong number on his board before displaying it.

This prompted an enraged Neymar to confront the official as he joined the Santos coaching staff in protesting the mistake.

The 34-year-old even held up the substitution sheet to a pitchside camera to show the error.

Another player’s name had been written, proving Neymar had not been the intended substitute.

His furious protests saw the former Barcelona man shout in the official’s face, resulting in a yellow card from the referee.

Woe before the World Cup

The incident came in Santos’ final match before Carlo Ancelotti names his Brazil squad for the World Cup.

Ancelotti is set to confirm his final 26-man selection for the tournament on Monday with Neymar fighting to make the cut.

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Although Neymar has not featured for Brazil since October 2023, he has emerged as a potential surprise inclusion after he was named in their preliminary squad.

Neymar’s previous World Cup campaigns have seen him score eight goals in 13 matches.

Meanwhile, Neymar is his country’s all-time top scorer with 79 goals in 128 caps.

Despite Santos’ struggles so far this season, their skipper has enjoyed an impressive creative return.

In 15 appearances across all competitions this term, Neymar has scored six goals and added four assists.

However, Santos sit just a point above the relegation zone following their defeat to Coritiba.

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The sides immediately below them have also played one less match than Cuca’s side.

Brazil begin their World Cup campaign against Morocco on June 13.

The Selecao face Haiti (June 20) and Scotland (June 24) in their other group games.