Neymar has announced his retirement from international football following Brazil’s 2-1 defeat to Norway in the round of 16 on 6 July, bringing an end to a career that established him as the Selecao’s all time leading scorer.
The 34 year old finishes with 80 goals in 129 appearances for Brazil, three more than Pele’s national record, having made his senior debut in 2010 and gone on to feature at four World Cups. He also represented Brazil at two Olympic Games, winning silver in 2012 before leading the country to gold on home soil in 2016.
Neymar’s role at this tournament was limited from the outset, having been a doubt for selection after suffering a calf injury while playing for Santos in May. He made the squad but did not start a single match, appearing only twice, both as a substitute, first in a brief cameo against Scotland during the group stage, and then in the defeat to Norway, where he scored his only goal of the tournament from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
‘I tried. I tried. It started here and now I finished here. It’s now over”, Neymar said after the game.
The moment carried added symbolism given its setting. Neymar’s farewell appearance came at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the same venue where he won his first cap in a friendly against the United States sixteen years earlier. He was seen in tears on the pitch afterwards, in what is expected to be his final World Cup appearance.
He entered Sunday’s match in the 67th minute with the score still goalless, only for Erling Haaland to put Norway ahead 12 minutes later and double the lead in the 90th with a fierce strike from outside the box. Neymar’s stoppage time penalty, won after Leo Ostigard was penalised for elbowing Casemiro during an aerial challenge, proved no more than a consolation. He exchanged words with Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland after converting the spot kick, his 80th and final goal for Brazil.
Unlike Pele, who won three World Cups during his career, Neymar leaves the international stage without ever lifting the trophy. Brazil have not won the World Cup since 2002. Sunday’s defeat marks the first time since 1990 that Brazil have been eliminated before reaching the quarter final stage.
Norway progress to face the winner of the round of 16 meeting between Mexico and England in the quarter finals at Miami Stadium on 12 July.
