Brazil’s head coach, Dorival Junior, has excluded Al Hilal forward Neymar and Real Madrid’s Endrick from his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Uruguay.

Endrick has only played 107 minutes for the LaLiga champions and hasn’t participated in their last four matches.

Neymar recently returned to action with Al Hilal on October 21 after a year-long recovery from injury.

“We chose not to include him to avoid rushing the process,” Dorival Junior stated on Friday. “He’s nearly fully recovered, but he’s only had limited playing time, which significantly influenced our decision.”

Neymar’s last appearance for the Selecao was on October 17, 2023, when he suffered a serious left knee injury.