Neymar Júnior, Brazil footballer: Profile, Career, News & Videos

Neymar Júnior , known mononymously as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a forward for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Santos. Known for his dribbling, technical ability, playmaking, passing, and finishing, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He is the all-time top goalscorer of the Brazil national team, with 80 goals.

Neymar made his professional debut with Santos in 2009, soon emerging as a teenage sensation. He helped Santos end a 48-year drought to win the 2011 Copa Libertadores, where he was named Best Player. In the 2012 season, he was the top scorer in the Copa Libertadores. After years of interest from top European clubs, Neymar joined Barcelona in 2013 and soon became part of an attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, famously dubbed MSN. He won two La Liga titles with Barcelona as well as the UEFA Champions League, which was part of a treble in 2014–15, a season during which he was the top goalscorer of both the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

After four seasons, Neymar left Barcelona in 2017 to join the French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), becoming the most expensive player in history after a €222 million transfer. He was expected to lead PSG to their first Champions League title, but injuries limited him to fewer than 175 matches, during which he scored over 115 goals and assisted 70. He helped the club win five Ligue 1 titles and came close to delivering Champions League success, with PSG finishing as runners-up in 2020 and reaching the semi-finals in 2021. In 2023, he joined the Saudi club Al-Hilal before returning to Santos in January 2025.

Neymar was capped 130 times for Brazil, the second-most for the country. He appeared in four consecutive FIFA World Cups from 2014 to 2026, scoring 9 goals. At the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, Neymar received the Golden Ball as he helped Brazil win the title. At the Summer Olympic Games, he captained Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in 2016, having previously helped them achieve silver in 2012. Neymar missed his nation's triumph at the 2019 Copa América due to injury, but 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.

Neymar is one of only five players to have reached 100 goals with three different clubs, is both the all-time Brazilian top goalscorer (43) and assist provider (33) in the Champions League, is the second-highest South American men's international goalscorer (80), and was formerly the all-time leader in international assists (59). He has been included in the Ballon d'Or three-man shortlist twice, the FIFPRO World 11 and the UEFA Team of the Year two times each, and was included in the France Football Team of the Decade for 2011–2020. One of the world's most famous athletes, Neymar has been named the world's most marketable athlete by SportsPro, has appeared regularly on Forbes' annual list of the world's highest-paid athletes, and was included in the Time 100 Most Influential People list in 2017.