Neymar

Lore & Background

Neymar made his professional debut with Santos in 2009 and soon emerged as a teenage sensation. In 2011, he led Santos to the Copa Libertadores title and was named the tournament's best player. After attracting interest from Europe's top clubs, Neymar joined Barcelona in 2013, where he was part of the MSN attacking trio alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez. He finished as the joint top scorer in the UEFA Champions League and the joint top scorer in the Copa del Rey as Barcelona completed the continental treble in 2014–15. At the age of 23, Neymar was viewed as one of the world's three best players, alongside Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. After four seasons, Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 in a world-record €222 million transfer. Despite becoming injury-prone, he remained PSG's talisman and was vital to Ligue 1 title wins in 2017–18, 2019–20 and 2022–23, but failed to win the Champions League, with PSG finishing as runners-up in 2020 and being eliminated in the 2020–21 semi-finals. As one of the club's all-time top goalscorers, he is one of the few players to have scored over 100 goals with three clubs. In 2023, he joined Saudi club Al-Hilal before returning to Santos in January 2025 after mutually agreeing to terminate his contract with Al Hilal. Neymar was capped 130 times for the Brazil national team, the second-most for the country. He appeared in four consecutive FIFA World Cups from 2014 to 2026, scoring nine goals in 15 matches. His international honours include the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, as well as an Olympic gold medal in 2016 — the nation's first — and a silver medal in 2012. After missing Brazil's triumph at the 2019 Copa América due to injury, Neymar led them to the final of the 2021 Copa América, for which he jointly received the Golden Ball. He retired from international football in 2026.

In Their Own Story

The stadium in Belo Horizonte was a cauldron of noise before the first whistle. Neymar stretched on the touchline, the yellow card in his pocket a small, cruel reminder of the rules that had already decided his fate. The crowd behind him—hundreds of thousands in yellow and green—chanted his name as if it were a prayer. Then the first German goal came, and the chant faltered. By the third, the noise had curdled into a low, collective groan. By the seventh, there was only silence, the kind that swallows a city whole. Neymar stood in the tunnel, watching the scoreboard through the glass, his boots still laced, his hands empty. Somewhere in the stands, a child in a yellow shirt was crying. He would carry that sound for the rest of his career.

Reader's Guide

Neymar was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, to Neymar Santos Sr. and Nadine da Silva and had a Christian upbringing. He inherited his name from his father, who is a former footballer and became his son's advisor as Neymar's talents began to grow. Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football. He was inspired by Robinho — his 'idol' — Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney. In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side Portuguesa Santista. Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos. With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought their first property, a house next to Vila Belmiro, Santos' home stadium. At age 15, Neymar was earning 10000 reais per month and at 16, 125000 reais per month. At 17, he signed his first full professional contract, was upgraded to the Santos first team, and began signing his first sponsorship deals. Neymar began playing football at an early age and was soon spotted by Santos who offered him a contract in 2003, where he was inducted into their youth academy. While in the youth academy, Neymar met Paulo Henrique Ganso, becoming good friends. Aged 14, Neymar travelled to Spain for tryouts with the Real Madrid youth team, but did not stay as his father decided he preferred the young prodigy to keep growing up while playing at Santos. Neymar made his professional debut on 7 March 2009, one month after turning 17, in a 2–1 win against Oeste in the 2009 Campeonato Paulista. On 11 April 2009, Neymar scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 win against Palmeiras in the 2009 Campeonato Paulista semi-final first leg. In the final, Santos suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Corinthians. In 2010, he scored 42 goals in 60 matches in all competitions and helped Santos win its first ever Copa do Brasil title, where he finished as the tournament's top scorer with 11 goals. In the 2010 summer transfer window, Santos received bids for Neymar from Premier League clubs Chelsea and West Ham United, the former reported to be in the region of £20 million. Neymar remained at Santos. Neymar scored crucial goals during the 2011 season, including the winning goal in the second leg of the finals against Corinthians to help his club clinch back-to-back state titles. He scored six goals during Santos' run to the 2011 Copa Libertadores finals, incl

Did You Know?

• Neymar is both the all-time top goalscorer (80) and assist provider (59) for the Brazil national team.
• He appeared in four consecutive FIFA World Cups from 2014 to 2026, scoring nine goals in 15 matches.
• Neymar retired from international football in 2026.
• He won an Olympic gold medal in 2016 — the nation's first — and a silver medal in 2012.
• Neymar was named the world's most marketable athlete by SportsPro and was included in the Time 100 Most Influential People list in 2017.