Neymar: “I Started Here, I Finished Here”
Some career endings arrive quietly. Neymar’s came in tears at MetLife Stadium, on the same ground where he’d scored his first-ever international goal sixteen years earlier, moments after Brazil’s earliest World Cup exit since 1990. “I tried, I tried,” he told Globo through tears. “Now, it’s over. I started here; I finished here.” It was as fitting and as painful a bookend as professional sport tends to offer.
From Santos to the world stage
Neymar was born on 5 February 1992 in Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil, and came through Santos’s youth system — the same boyhood club, fittingly, where both his career began and, for now, appears to be winding down. He broke through as a teenager, and by his early twenties had become one of the most sought-after players in world football, joining Barcelona in 2013 and forming the famous “MSN” attacking trio alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, winning a Champions League title and multiple domestic honours in four seasons at the club.
The world-record transfer
In 2017, Paris Saint-Germain signed Neymar for a fee in the region of €222 million, still the highest transfer fee ever paid for a footballer. He spent six seasons in Paris, winning multiple Ligue 1 titles, before a brief and largely unsuccessful 18-month spell at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal, hampered heavily by injury.
Coming home
Neymar returned to Santos in January 2025, a homecoming widely framed in Brazilian media as the prince returning to his kingdom to chase one final World Cup. It wasn’t a smooth spell — persistent knee problems, including a serious meniscus surgery in December 2025, limited his availability, though he still played a meaningful role in helping Santos avoid relegation from Brazil’s top flight. He extended his Santos contract through the end of 2026, explicitly to keep his World Cup hopes alive.
Brazil’s all-time leading scorer
Neymar is Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer, with 79 international goals, having passed the legendary Pelé’s long-standing mark of 77. He’d been part of Brazil’s squad that won Olympic gold on home soil at Rio 2016, and had played in three previous World Cups, including the heartbreaking 2022 quarter-final penalty shootout exit to Croatia in Qatar. But he hadn’t played for the national team since October 2023, when he tore his ACL and meniscus during World Cup qualifying — an injury that kept him out of international football for close to two years.
A selection gamble that didn’t pay off
Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to include Neymar in the 2026 World Cup squad, despite his injury history and inconsistent match fitness, became one of the tournament’s most debated selection calls. Neymar entered the tournament already carrying a calf injury that ruled him out of Brazil’s pre-tournament friendlies, and it kept him out of the opening group matches against Morocco and Haiti entirely. He managed just 15 minutes off the bench against Scotland, and Brazil needed a last-gasp win against Japan simply to reach the knockout rounds.
In the round of 16 against Norway, Neymar came on as a substitute and scored a late penalty — a genuine moment of quality — but it arrived too late to prevent a 2-1 defeat, with Erling Haaland scoring twice for the Norwegians. It marked Brazil’s earliest World Cup exit since 1990, the first time in 36 years the country had failed to reach the quarter-finals.
The retirement announcement
Neymar announced his retirement from the Brazil national team immediately after the Norway defeat, visibly emotional as he addressed reporters. In the days that followed, Brazilian outlets reported he was seriously weighing retirement from professional football altogether, describing himself as “living year to year” and saying the decision would depend on “what my heart says” later in the year.
What his career adds up to
Whatever comes next, Neymar’s résumé secures his place among the great Brazilian forwards of the modern era: a Champions League winner at Barcelona, the subject of the most expensive transfer in football history, an Olympic gold medallist, and his country’s all-time leading goalscorer. What’s followed him throughout, fairly or not, has been a persistent gap between his obvious individual brilliance and Brazil’s collective results at major tournaments — a gap that never fully closed, and that his emotional final World Cup appearance did little to bridge.
Quick facts
Full name: Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior | Born: 5 February 1992, Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil | Club: Santos FC | Notable: Brazil’s all-time leading scorer (79 goals), Champions League winner with Barcelona, subject of football’s most expensive-ever transfer (PSG, 2017), retired from international football after Brazil’s round-of-16 exit at the 2026 World Cup.
Frequently asked questions
Did Neymar play at the 2026 World Cup?
Yes, but only briefly — he was sidelined by a calf injury for the group stage and appeared in just two matches, including a late substitute appearance against Norway in the round of 16, where he scored a consolation penalty.
Has Neymar retired from football?
He announced his retirement from the Brazil national team after the 2026 World Cup exit and has said he is considering retiring from professional football entirely, with a decision expected later in the year.
What club does Neymar play for?
Santos FC, his boyhood club, which he rejoined in January 2025 after a spell at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal.
Is Neymar Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer?
Yes — he holds the record with 79 international goals, having passed Pelé’s previous mark of 77.
Why was Neymar’s 2026 World Cup selection controversial?
He hadn’t played for Brazil since October 2023 due to a serious knee injury, and questions were raised about including him given his fitness doubts — questions that intensified after Brazil’s early exit.
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Researched and fact-checked against official league, federation and governing-body sources. Reviewed by Makhdoomzada Zaeem Muhammad, Founder & Editor, PinLivescore.