Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known as Neymar Júnior or mononymously as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal and the Brazil national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, he is renowned for his flamboyant style of play, passing abilities and two-footedness. He finished third for the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2015 and 2017 and is a recipient of the FIFA Puskás Award. Neymar has scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs, making him one of the few players to achieve this feat.
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Neymar playing for Al Hilal in 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 5 February 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward, attacking midfielder, winger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Current team | Al Hilal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2003 | Portuguesa Santista | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2009 | Santos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Santos | 177 | (107) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2017 | Barcelona | 123 | (68) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2023 | Paris Saint-Germain | 112 | (82) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Al Hilal | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Brazil U17 | 3 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Brazil U20 | 7 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2016 | Brazil U23 | 14 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010– | Brazil | 128 | (79) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 September 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 04:10, 18 October 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Neymar came into prominence at Santos, where he made his professional debut aged 17. Soon becoming the Brazilian league's star player, he helped Santos win their first Copa Libertadores in nearly 50 years. In 2013, he relocated to Europe to join Barcelona where he became part of Barcelona's attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, dubbed MSN. Winning the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League in the trio's first season together, Neymar was the tied top scorer of the Champions League campaign, as well as the top scorer in the Copa del Rey.
Motivated to be the focal player at club level, Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in 2017. The transfer cost €222 million, making him the most expensive player ever. In his debut season, he was voted Ligue 1 Player of the Year and won his first of five Ligue 1 titles. Driven to lead PSG to their first Champions League title, Neymar was integral to PSG being runners-up in the 2019-20 Champions League. In the following season, he became the highest-scoring Brazilian player in Champions League history. Reoccurring injuries riddled Neymar's playing time; in 2023 he left PSG as one of their top goalscorers of all time, signing for Al Hilal in a lucrative deal.
Debuting for Brazil aged 18, Neymar is the all-time top goalscorer for his national team with 79 goals in 128 matches. He won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning the Golden Ball. In his first FIFA World Cup, the 2014 edition, he was named in the Dream Team. He captained Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in men's football at the 2016 Summer Olympics, having already achieving a silver medal at the 2012 edition. Helping Brazil to a runner-up finish at the 2021 Copa América, he won the joint Best Player award alongside Messi. In the 2022 World Cup, he joined Pelé and Ronaldo as the only Brazilians to score in three World Cups. Neymar has won a record six Samba Gold awards, given to the best Brazilian player in Europe.
Neymar has been named in the FIFA FIFPro World11 and the UEFA Team of the Year twice, and the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season three times. 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. France Football ranked Neymar the world's third-highest-paid footballer of 2018. Forbes ranked him the world's third-highest-paid athlete of 2019, dropping a spot to fourth in 2020.