•

(Top)

•
Early life

•
Club career
Toggle Club career subsection
•
International career
Toggle International career subsection
•
Player profile
Toggle Player profile subsection
•
Personal life

•
Outside football
Toggle Outside football subsection
•
Career statistics
Toggle Career statistics subsection
•
Honours

•
See also

•
Notes

•
References

•
External links

Neymar
110 languages
• Article
• Talk
• Read
• View source
• View history
Tools

•
•
•
•
 •
•
•
•
•

•
•

•
•

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Neymar (disambiguation).
This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please
consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or
adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk
page. (November 2023)
In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is da Silva and the second
or paternal family name is Santos. "Júnior" is a generational suffix used for someone
whose name is the same as their father, like "Jr." in English.

Neymar

Neymar playing for Al Hilal in 2023

 Personal information

Full name Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior[1]

Date of birth 5 February 1992 (age 31)[1]

Place of birth Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil[2]

Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]

Position(s) Forward, attacking midfielder

Team information

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)

show

Medal record

Signature

*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 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. A prolific
goalscorer and playmaker renowned for his flamboyant style of play, he is widely
regarded as one of the best players in the world and the best Brazilian player of his
generation. Neymar has scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs, making
him one of the few players to achieve this feat.[3]

Neymar came into prominence at Santos, where he made his professional debut
aged 17. Soon becoming the Brazilian league's star player, he won the 2011 Copa
Libertadores with Santos, being their first since 1963. He was named the South
American Footballer of the Year in 2011 and 2012, and relocated to Europe to
join Barcelona in 2013. In his second season, 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. Motivated to be the focal
player at club level, Neymar unexpectedly left Barcelona for Paris Saint-
Germain (PSG) in 2017[4] in a €222 million transfer, which made him the most
expensive player ever.[note 1] In Paris, Neymar was voted Ligue 1 Player of the Year in
his debut season, was integral to PSG reaching its first ever Champions League
final in 2019–20, and became the highest scoring Brazilian player in Champions
League history.[7] Injuries riddled Neymar's playing time in PSG and in 2023, after six
seasons and five Ligue 1 title wins, he signed 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. His participation in the 2015 Copa América was cut short by a
suspension, before captaining 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. 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, in which he won the joint Best Player award
alongside Messi. At the 2022 World Cup, he joined 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 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 and 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.[8] 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,[9] dropping a spot to fourth in 2020.[10]

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.[11][12] 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.[13] 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."[14] Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street
football.[15] 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.[16]

In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for
youth side Portuguesa Santista.[17] Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where
Neymar joined Santos.[18] 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.[19]

Club career
Santos
Youth
Neymar began playing football at an early age and he was soon spotted by Santos
who offered him a contract in 2003, where he was inducted into their youth academy,
which has, in the past, produced Brazilian internationals
like Coutinho, Clodoaldo, Diego, Elano and Alex. He also joined the likes
of Pepe, Pelé and Robinho in starting out his career at the club,
nicknamed Peixe.[20] While in the youth academy, Neymar met Paulo Henrique
Ganso, becoming good friends in the process. Aged 14, Neymar travelled to Spain
for try outs with the Real Madrid youth team. He did not stay in Madrid, however, as
his father decided at the time that he preferred the young prodigy to keep growing up
while playing at Santos.[21][22]

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.[15] 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.[23] In the final, however, Santos
suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Corinthians.[24] In his first season, Neymar racked
up 14 goals in 48 games.[15]

2010: Campeonato Paulista success

"The 18-year-old is a magnificent prospect. He is sleek and skilful, able to beat the defender on either side, capable of
combining well, and full of tricks he can put to productive use in and around the penalty area."
—South American football journalist Tim Vickery on Neymar in 2010.[25]

Neymar continued his ascendancy in 2010, and, on 15 April, he scored five goals for
Santos in an 8–1 rout of Guarani in the qualifying stages of the Brazilian
Cup.[26] Following the 2010 Campeonato Paulista in which Neymar scored 14 goals in
19 games,[20] the club were crowned champions after a 5–5 aggregate win over Santo
André in the finals.[27] Neymar was subsequently given the award for the best player in
the competition.[28] Neymar's performances for Santos drew comparisons to other
Brazilians, including Robinho and Pelé.[29]

In 2010, Santos rejected a £12 million bid for him from English Premier
League team West Ham United,[30] and later an offer from another English
club, Chelsea, reported to be in the region of £20 million.[31] Despite the unwillingness
of Santos to sell and Neymar himself stating: "I'm focused only on Santos", [32] his
agent, Wagner Ribeiro, indicated that Neymar's career was elsewhere, stating: "He
wants to become the best player in the world. The chances of him doing that while
playing in Brazil are zero."[31] One year later Neymar said, in an interview with
the Daily Telegraph, that he had been happy with Chelsea's interest in him as it was
a "dream" of his "to play in Europe", while also stating that at the time it had been the
right decision to stay in Brazil.[33]

On 30 November 2010, Santos sold a 5% share of future transfer fees that he would
receive to an investment group, Terceira Estrela Investimentos S.A. (TEISA),
for R$ 3,549,900 (€1.5 million).[34] The previous year, his family had sold a 40% stake
in Neymar's sporting rights to the DIS Esporte group who had been a long-term
strategic partner of Santos' football club.[35]

Despite his first two seasons being highly successful, having ended the 2010 season
with an impressive 42 goals in 60 games, problems had been identified, namely
Neymar's apparent taste for diving when tackled, rather than attempting to continue
his run, and his attitude. The latter came to the forefront during a match with Atlético
Goianiense, on 15 September 2010, when the Santos' manager, Dorival Júnior,
appointed another player to take the penalty awarded for a foul on Neymar. His
decision was based on the fact that Neymar had missed a crucial penalty during
the Copa do Brasil final of that year, even if Santos went on to win. Reacting to this,
Neymar turned his back on his manager, had to be calmed down by a linesman and
argued with his captain, Edu Dracena. The fallout from this event was that Dorival
Júnior wished to have Neymar suspended for two weeks, but the board sided with
the player and promptly sacked the manager. Despite Neymar's apologies over the
incident, some doubts still remain about his attitude.[15] In December 2010, aged just
18, Neymar came third for the 2010 South American Footballer of the Year,
behind Andrés D'Alessandro and Juan Sebastián Verón.[36]

2011: Puskás Award

Neymar training ahead of the 2011 Copa Libertadores final

against Peñarol
Neymar scored six goals during Santos' run to the 2011 Copa Libertadores Finals,
tying him for third top goalscorer,[37] including the clinching goal of Santos' 4–3
aggregate win over Cerro Porteño in the semi-finals.[38] In the two-legged final, Santos
faced Uruguayan side Peñarol and drew the first leg 0–0 in Montevideo.[39] At home in
the second leg, Neymar opened the scoring in the 46th minute as Santos held on for
a 2–1 win and Neymar won Man of the Match honours.[40][41] The win brought Santos
their first Copa Libertadores triumph since 1963, when Brazilian legend Pelé was
playing for the club.[42][43]

In September 2011, Santos club president Luís Ribeiro threatened to report Real
Madrid to FIFA following reports that they had attempted to sign Neymar to a pre-
contract agreement, and denied that such an agreement was in place. [44] On 9
November, Neymar and Santos agreed to a contract extension that would see the
player stay with the club until after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The deal reportedly
increased Neymar's wages by 50%, to the levels that top European clubs would be
paying him.[45] On 14 December, Neymar scored the opening goal for Santos as they
defeated Kashiwa Reysol 3–1 in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup at
the Toyota Stadium in Toyota, Japan, but failed to score against Barcelona in the
final on 18 December, where Santos were defeated 4–0, finishing as runners-up in
the competition.[46] He won the 2011 FIFA Puskás Award for scoring a solo goal in
the Brasileirão Série A against Flamengo, in a 5–4 loss. On 31 December, he won
the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year award for the first time, by a record
margin, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona, Romário, Pelé and Zico.[47]

2012: South America'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.[48][49] On 25
February – 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.[50] On 7 March, Neymar netted
a hat-trick as Santos saw off Brazilian rivals Internacional 3–1 in the Copa
Libertadores Group stage match.[51] On 29 March, he scored a brace
against Guaratinguetá in a 5–0 victory.[52] In the fixture against São Paulo on 29 April
2012, Neymar scored a hat-trick with the match ending 3–1.[53] Thereafter, he went on
to score twice in the first[54] and second legs[55] 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.[56] On 3

November, 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.[57] 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.[58] 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.[59]

2013: Final season

Neymar started the 2013 Campeonato Paulista scoring twice in the first match, which
ended a 3–1 win over São Bernardo on 19 January 2013.[60] On 3 February, in the
Paulista fixture against São Paulo, where Santos won 3–1, with Neymar scoring and
making two assists.[61] On 18 March, Neymar told that he had a "dream of playing in
Europe, for a big club like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea." But he went on to
say, "There's no point in speculating when I'll leave Santos. I'll leave when I want
to."[62]

Neymar scored all four goals, had another disallowed and hit the post as Santos
beat União Barbarense 4–0 in the Paulista on 13 April.[63] On 25 April, his agent and
father revealed that Neymar intended to leave for Europe before the 2014 FIFA
World Cup.[64] Ahead of his last match for Santos, on 26 May against Flamengo,
Neymar was in tears during the national anthem.[65]

Barcelona
See also: Transfer (association football) § 2013: Transfer of Neymar from Santos to
Barcelona

Neymar during his unveiling at Barcelona in June 2013

On 24 May 2013, Santos announced that they had received two offers for Neymar.
The following day, Neymar announced he would sign with Barcelona on 27 May and
join the team after playing in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. Neither Neymar nor
the clubs released details on the transfer fee or personal terms, save to say he
signed a five-year deal.[66] On 3 June, Neymar was unveiled by Barcelona after
passing medical tests and signing a contract that would keep him at the club through
June 2018.[67]

Neymar was presented at the Camp Nou in front of 56,500 fans, a record turnout for
a Brazilian player.[68] Club vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu initially said Neymar's
transfer fee was €57.1 million and his release clause set at
€190 million.[69][70] Barcelona's doctor suggested he might need to gain weight to be
able to cope physically in Spanish football.[71]

Transfer investigation
In January 2014, the prosecutor's office in Madrid began investigating the transfer fee
that Barcelona paid for Neymar.[72] The documents submitted to the authorities on
request contained contradictory information.[72] On 23 January 2014, Rosell resigned
from his position as president.[73] A day later, the details of the transfer were revealed
by Barcelona; the transfer had in fact cost them €86.2 million
(£71.5 million),[74][75][76] with Neymar's parents confirmed to have received a €40 million
sum.[77][78] In the aftermath, Barcelona and Bartomeu were charged with tax fraud.[79]

2013–14: Adapting to Spain

On 30 July 2013, Barcelona drew 2–2 against Lechia Gdańsk in a pre-season
friendly; Neymar made his unofficial debut when he came on as a substitute. [80] He
scored his first goal for the club in a 7–1 win against a Thailand XI on 7 August at
the Rajamangala National Stadium.[81] Neymar made his competitive debut for
Barcelona during the opening game of the 2013–14 La Liga season as a 63rd-minute
substitute for Alexis Sánchez in a 7–0 win against Levante.[82] On 21 August, he
scored his first competitive goal for the club in the first leg of the 2013 Supercopa de
España against Atlético Madrid: seven minutes after coming on as a substitute
for Pedro, he headed Dani Alves' cross to equalise in a 1–1 draw at the Vicente
Calderón Stadium as Barcelona won on the away goals rule for his first trophy at the
club.[83] On 18 September, he made his UEFA Champions
League debut, assisting a Gerard Piqué goal as Barça beat Ajax 4–0 in their opening
match of the 2013–14 tournament.

Six days later, Neymar scored his first goal in La Liga in Barcelona's 4–1 defeat
of Real Sociedad at Camp Nou.[84] On 26 October, he made his first El
Clásico appearance, scoring the opening goal and assisting the team's winning goal
scored by Alexis Sánchez as Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2–1 at Camp Nou.[85] On 11
December, Neymar recorded his first three Champions League goals as he scored
a hat-trick in a 6–1 win over Celtic in Barcelona's final Group H match.[86]

2014–15: The treble and individual success

Neymar playing for Barcelona against Villarreal in La Liga in

2015.
On 13 September 2014, after appearing as a substitute, Neymar scored his first two
goals of the 2014–15 season, helping Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 2–0. On 27
September, he scored a hat-trick against Granada in a 6–0 win[87] and scored in his
next three La Liga matches, including the opening goal in a 1–3 loss to Real Madrid
at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.[88]

On 24 January 2015, Neymar scored twice and assisted two more goals in a 6–0 win
at Elche.[89] On 28 January, he scored his 20th goal of the season in a 3–2 Copa del
Rey quarter-final win over Atlético Madrid.[90] On 4 March, Neymar scored twice in
Barcelona's 3–1 Copa del Rey semi-final win over Villarreal to qualify the club for its
37th Spanish Cup final.[91] On 21 April, Neymar took his tally to 30 goals for the
season by scoring twice in Barcelona's 2–0 Champions League quarter-final win
over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).[92]

In May, the closing month of the season, Neymar scored the last goal in a 3–0 win
against Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.[93] A week
later, he scored both the team's goals in a 3–2-second leg defeat at the Allianz
Arena to ensure Barça would qualify for the 2015 UEFA Champions League
Final.[94] He also opened the scoring with a header in a 2–0 league win versus Real
Sociedad, a result which gave Barça a four-point lead over Real Madrid with only two
matches remaining.[95]
 Barcelona fans prior to the 2015 UEFA Champions
League Final in Berlin holding up pictures of the attacking trio, Messi, Suárez and
Neymar (MSN)
After securing the league title on 17 May with a 1–0 win over Atlético Madrid at the
Vicente Calderón, Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 3–1 at Camp Nou in the 2015
Copa del Rey Final on 30 May, with Neymar scoring the second goal
for Barça.[96] With Barcelona's victory likely, he performed tricks with the ball in the
final stages of the game, which was deemed unsporting by opponent Andoni Iraola.
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique claimed that it had to be understood that such
behaviour was acceptable in Brazil, while Neymar himself did not apologise.[97]

On 6 June, Neymar scored the third goal for Barça in the 3–1 Champions League
Final defeat of Italian champions Juventus at Berlin's Olympiastadion, ensuring the
club won its fifth European Cup.[98] This made Barcelona the first club in history to
twice win the treble of domestic league, domestic cup and European Cup.[99] On a
personal note, he became the eighth player in football's history to win both the Copa
Libertadores and the UEFA Champions League, and the first player to score in final
victories in both competitions.[100] Neymar ended the season with 39 goals in all
competitions and 10 in the Champions League, making him joint highest scorer
with Cristiano Ronaldo and teammate Lionel Messi in the latter competition.[101] He
was the first player apart from those two to top the competition's scoring list, since
compatriot Kaká in 2006–07.[102] Barcelona's attacking trio of Messi, Luis Suárez and
Neymar, dubbed "MSN", ended with 122 goals, the most in a season for an attacking
trio in Spanish football history.[103]

2015–16: Domestic double

Wikinews has related news:

• Footballers Neymar, Zlatan, Nolito sign contracts

Due to having the mumps, Neymar was expected to miss the 2015 UEFA Super
Cup and the 2015 Supercopa de España.[104] On 17 October, Neymar scored four
goals in Barcelona's 5–2 home win over Rayo Vallecano in La Liga, taking his total to
eight goals for the season.[105] On 21 November, Neymar scored one and provided a
back heel assist for Andrés Iniesta in Barcelona's 4–0 away win against Real
Madrid.[106] He scored twice in a 4–0 home win over Real Sociedad on 28 November,
taking his La Liga total to 14 goals in 12 games.[107] On 30 November, Neymar was
shortlisted for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or alongside Messi and Ronaldo, and
subsequently came third.[108][109] On 22 May 2016, Neymar scored a late goal in
Barcelona's 2–0 extra time win over Sevilla in the 2016 Copa del Rey Final at the
Vicente Calderón, as the club celebrated winning the domestic double for the second
consecutive season, following their treble victory from the previous season. [110][111] The
front three of Messi, Suárez and Neymar finished the season with 131 goals,
breaking the record they had set the previous year for most goals by an attacking trio
in a single season.[112]

2016–17: Final season

"While there is a 1% chance, we will have
99% faith."
— Neymar after the 4–0 loss against PSG
on 15 February 2017[113]

Neymar (middle) on the ball during the Champions

League second leg win against PSG in February 2017
In Barcelona's 6–1 victory over PSG in the Champions League round of 16, Neymar
had a miraculous and heroic role in Barcelona's comeback, by scoring two goals and
assisted the decisive goal of Sergi Roberto during the closing seven-minute
sequence, of which he was named man of the match, based on his
efforts.[114][115] Overcoming the 4–0 loss to PSG in the first leg from 14 February 2017,
this second leg match became the biggest comeback in Champions League
history.[116]

On 2 April, Neymar scored his 100th goal for Barcelona in his 177th appearance for
the club, netting in a 4–1 win over Granada.[117][118] On 27 May, Neymar scored in
the 2017 Copa del Rey Final, his 105th goal for the club, as Barcelona
defeated Alavés 3–1 at the Vicente Calderón in Madrid.[119]

Desire to leave Barcelona

According to former Barcelona teammate Xavi, Neymar informed his teammates of

his desire to leave Barcelona