Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior known mononymously as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. A prolific goalscorer and renowned playmaker, he is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, as well as one of the greatest Brazilian footballers of all time. Neymar has scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs, making him one of four players to achieve this.

Neymar came into prominence at Santos, where he made his professional debut aged 17. He helped the club win two successive Campeonato Paulista championships, a Copa do Brasil, and the 2011 Copa Libertadores; the latter being Santos' first since 1963. Neymar was twice named the South American Footballer of the Year, in 2011 and 2012, and soon relocated to Europe to join Barcelona. As part of Barcelona's attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, dubbed MSN, he won the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League. He then attained a domestic double in the 2015–16 season. Motivated to be a talisman at club level, Neymar transferred to PSG in 2017[7] in a move worth €222 million, making him the most expensive player ever.[note 1] In France, he won four league titles, among other honours, and was voted Ligue 1 Player of the Year in his debut season.[10] Notably, he helped PSG attain a domestic quadruple in the 2019–20 season, and led the club to its first ever Champions League Final.

With 77 goals in 124 matches for Brazil since debuting at age 18, Neymar is the joint-top goalscorer for his national team alongside Pelé. At his youth stage for Brazil, he was a key player in the victory at the 2011 South American Youth Championship, where he finished as leading goalscorer, and also attained a silver medal in men's football at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The following year, he won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning the Golden Ball. His participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 Copa América was cut short by injury and a suspension, respectively, before captaining Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in men's football at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Having renounced the captaincy, he featured at the 2018 World Cup, and after missing the 2019 Copa América through injury, helped Brazil to a runner-up finish at the 2021 tournament.

Neymar finished third for the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2015 and 2017, has been awarded the FIFA Puskás Award, has been named in the FIFA FIFPro World11 twice, the UEFA Team of the Year twice, and the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season three times. Off the pitch, he ranks among the world's most prominent sportsmen. SportsPro named him the most marketable athlete in the world in 2012 and 2013, and ESPN cited him as the world's fourth-most famous athlete in 2016. In 2017, Time included him in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2018, France Football ranked Neymar the world's third highest-paid footballer. The following year, Forbes ranked him the world's third highest-paid athlete,[ dropping a spot to fourth in 2020.

Early life

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior 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. Neymar comments on his father's role: “My father has been by my side since I was little. He takes care of things, my finances and my family.” Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football. Neymar said that futsal had a massive influence on him growing up, helping him develop his technique, speed of thought and ability to perform moves in tight spaces.

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. Their quality of family life improved, as at age 15, Neymar was earning 10,000 reais per month and at 16, 125,000 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.

Career

2009: Debut season

Neymar made his professional debut on 7 March 2009, despite being only 17 years old. He was brought on for the last thirty minutes, in a 2–1 win against Oeste. The following week he scored his first goal for Santos against Mogi Mirim. One month later, on 11 April, Neymar scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 win against Palmeiras in the 2009 Campeonato Paulista semi-final first leg. In the final, however, Santos suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Corinthians. In his first season, Neymar racked up 14 goals in 48 games.

2012: South Africa's best player

On 5 February 2012, when he turned 20, Neymar scored his 100th goal as a professional football player, against Palmeiras in the Campeonato Paulista. On 25 February 2012 – he scored two goals, one of which was from 25-yards – and created two assists to help his side to a 6–1 win over Ponte Preta. On 7 March 2012, Neymar netted a hat-trick as Santos saw off Brazilian rivals Internacional 3–1 in the Copa Libertadores Group stage match. On 29 March, he scored a brace against Guaratinguetá in a 5–0 victory. In the fixture against São Paulo on 29 April 2012, Neymar scored a hat-trick with the match ending 3–1. Thereafter, he went on to score twice in the first and second legs in the 2012 Campeonato Paulista Finals against Guarani, which ended 7–2 on aggregate. Neymar finished the 2012 Campeonato Paulista with 20 goals and was voted the Best player and Best Forward, and Santos were crowned champions. He was joint top scorer in the Copa Libertadores with eight goals, after Santos were beaten over two legs by eventual champions Corinthians in the semi-finals.

On 25 August 2012, he scored a brace in the 2–1 away win at Palmeiras. On 3 November 2012, in the Brasileiro Série A away fixture at Cruzeiro, Neymar scored a hat-trick and assisted Felipe Anderson's goal, to help his side to a 4–0 win. Neymar finished off the 2012 season in style, first setting-up Victor Andrade's equaliser, then scoring twice, to give Santos a 3–1 home win over Palmeiras on 1 December 2012. Neymar was voted the Best Player of the 2012 Recopa Sudamericana, with himself scoring in the second leg to win the title 2–0 on aggregate. He finished the 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A with 14 goals and being voted the Best forward. Neymar finished the 2012 season, being award the Golden Ball, Arthur Friedenreich Award and Armando Nogueira Trophy. He was one of three finalists in the 2012 FIFA Puskás Award and finished runners-up behind Miroslav Stoch. He won the 2012 South American Footballer of the Year, retaining his award and winning it ahead of the likes of Ronaldinho.

Paris Saint German

On 3 August 2017, Barcelona announced that Neymar's legal representatives made a payment of €222 million to the club, equal to the release clause of his contract, which constituted the most expensive transfer ever. The club informed UEFA so that they can determine any disciplinary responsibilities that may arise from this case. According to the BBC, in Spain, the release clause must be activated by the footballer himself. The situation was unusual, in that the fee was paid to the club directly, after La Liga had refused to receive the payment. Usually, the buyout clause is deposited with La Liga in order to release the player from his contract, and the league then passes the money to the selling club. However, La Liga rejected the payment—citing violation of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules by PSG, who are backed by money from Gulf state Qatar.

Neymar joined French club Paris Saint-Germain on a contract that would run until 2022. He was offered the number 10 jersey by Javier Pastore as a "welcome gift".

2022-2023: Regained form and season end injury

Following a disappointing form in the previous season and with the club's change in transfer policy, Neymar was linked with a potential departure from the club, but the lack of potential suitors broke down a potential move, despite PSG's Football Advisor Luís Campos dismissing those rumours claiming that Neymar was part of the club's project. He quickly regained his form from his previous season, starting off the season by scoring a goal and providing an hat-trick of assists in a 5–0 win against Clermont on 6 August. As part of his prolific attacking trio alongside Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi, on 21 August, all three scored and assisted with Neymar netting twice and registering three more assists in PSG's 7–1 away win over Lille. After registering 13 goal contributions in his first five league games, Neymar was named Ligue 1's Player of the Month in August.

On 6 March 2023, PSG announced that Neymar would undergo surgery in Doha and would be ruled out for the remainder of the season.

International Career

World Cup

In May 2018, Neymar was named in Tite's final 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On 3 June 2018, he made his international comeback after a three-month absence from a foot injury and scored a goal in a 2–0 win over Croatia in a friendly match at Anfield. The following week, he became Brazil's joint-third highest goalscorer alongside Romário when he scored his 55th international goal in a 3–0 friendly win over Austria. In Brazil's second World Cup match, played against Costa Rica at the Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, on 22 June, Neymar scored the team's second goal in injury time as Brazil won 2–0. The goal, his 56th for Brazil, took him third in the all-time scoring chart behind only Pelé and Ronaldo.

On 2 July, Neymar scored his second goal of the World Cup in a 2–0 win over Mexico in the last 16, while also assisting Roberto Firmino for his goal. After the Mexico game, BBC Sport wrote that despite Neymar's "good performances" coming up top in several statistics at the World Cup, "there is still a sense that he remains widely unpopular among neutrals" due to his "petulance and the play-acting". Meanwhile, Brazilian newspaper O Globo wrote that "Neymar has charmed Brazil, but annoyed the whole world". On 6 July, Brazil were eliminated after losing 2–1 against Belgium in the quarter-finals, with Neymar denied an injury time equaliser by a finger-tip save from Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

2019-present

In May 2019, Neymar was included in Brazil's 23-man squad for the 2019 Copa América on home soil. On 5 June, however, he suffered an ankle injury in a 2–0 friendly win over Qatar and was ruled out of the tournament, with Neymar expected to miss four weeks due to the injury.

On 10 October 2019, Neymar played his 100th match for Brazil in a friendly draw 1–1 with Senegal in Singapore. On 13 October 2020, he scored a hat-trick in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Peru, which Brazil won 4–2. He reached his 64th international goal and surpassed Ronaldo as the nation's second highest goalscorer of all time.

On 13 June 2021, in Brazil's opening group match of the 2021 Copa América, which took place on home soil, Neymar scored his team's second goal from the penalty spot and later assisted another for Gabriel Barbosa in a 3–0 win over Venezuela. In the following match on 17 June, he once again scored the second goal in an eventual 4–0 win over Peru. On 23 June he assisted Casemiro's match–winning goal from a corner in injury time of a 2–1 win over Colombia. On 2 July, he assisted Lucas Paquetá's goal in a 1–0 win over Chile in the quarter-finals of the competition. Three days later, he once again assisted Paquetá for the only goal of the match in the semi-finals against Peru. On 10 July, Brazil were defeated 1–0 by Argentina in the final. Despite the loss, Neymar was named the player of the tournament alongside Argentina's Messi for his performances throughout the competition.

On 9 September 2021, Neymar scored the second goal in a 2–0 win over Peru and became Brazil's all-time top scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification matches, with 12 in total.

On 7 November 2022, Neymar was named in the Brazil squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He played 79 minutes of Brazil's first match on 24 November, a 2–0 win against Serbia, but was unable to play the next two group games due to ankle ligament damage. Neymar recovered from his injury to play against South Korea in the last 16 on 5 December, where he assisted Vinícius Júnior's opening goal and scored a penalty in a 4–1 win for Brazil; as a result, he became only the third Brazilian player ever, after Pelé and Ronaldo, to score in three different World Cups. Four days later, in the quarter-final match against Croatia, Neymar scored his 77th international goal and equalled Pelé's official goal tally for the national team; Brazil, however, were defeated 4–2 in the ensuing penalty shootout following a 1–1 draw after extra time, before Neymar was able to take Brazil's final penalty.

Career Statistics

Club

International

Honours

Santos

Campeonato Paulista: 2010, 2011, 2012
Copa do Brasil: 2010
Copa Libertadores: 2011
Recopa Sudamericana: 2012

Barcelona

La Liga: 2014–15, 2015–16
Copa del Rey: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17
Supercopa de España: 2013
UEFA Champions League: 2014–15
FIFA Club World Cup: 2015

Paris Saint Germain

Ligue 1: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22
Coupe de France: 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21
Coupe de la Ligue: 2017–18, 2019–20
Trophée des Champions: 2018, 2020, 2022

Brazil U20

South American U-20 Championship: 2011

Brazil U23

Summer Olympics: 2016; runner-up: 2012

Brazil

FIFA Confederations Cup: 2013
Copa América runner-up: 2021

Individual

Awards

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2010, 2011, 2012
Chuteira de Ouro: 2010, 2011, 2012
Bola de Prata: 2010, 2011
Bola de Ouro: 2011
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Best Player: 2011
World Soccer Young Player of the Year: 2011
Copa Libertadores Most Valuable Player: 2011
FIFA Club World Cup Bronze Ball: 2011
South American Footballer of the Year: 2011, 2012
FIFA Puskás Award: 2011
Bola de Ouro Hors Concours: 2012
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: 2013
FIFA Confederations Cup Bronze Shoe: 2013
FIFA Confederations Cup Dream Team: 2013
FIFA World Cup Bronze Boot: 2014
FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2014
Samba Gold: 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2014–15, 2019–20, 2020–21
La Liga Best World Player: 2014–15
La Liga Player of the Month: November 2015
UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year: 2017–18
UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21
UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month: January 2020, August 2022
UEFA Team of the Year: 2015, 2020
FIFA FIFPro World11: 2015, 2017
IFFHS Men's World Team: 2017
ESM Team of the Year: 2017–18
IFFHS CONMEBOL Team of the Decade: 2011–2020
Copa América Team of the Tournament: 2021

Performances

Copa do Brasil top scorer: 2010
South American U-20 Championship top scorer: 2011
Campeonato Paulista top scorer: 2012
Copa Libertadores top scorer: 2012 
Copa Libertadores 2nd top assist provider: 2012
Copa del Rey top scorer: 2014–15
UEFA Champions League top scorer: 2014–15 
FIFA Club World Cup top assist provider: 2015
UEFA Champions League top assist provider: 2015–16, 2016–17