Neymar, 1992-

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known mononymously as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a forward for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Santos. A goalscorer and playmaker, he is known for his dribbling, technical ability, agility, passing, and finishing. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was recognised as the best player in Europe for three consecutive seasons from 2016–17 to 2018–19 according to performance tracking data, while ranking second in 2015–16, 2019–20 and 2020–21. He is both the all-time top goalscorer (80) and assist provider (59) for the Brazil national team. Neymar made his professional debut with Santos in 2009 and soon emerged as a teenage sensation. In 2011, he led Santos to the Copa Libertadores title and was named the tournament's best player. After attracting interest from Europe's top clubs, Neymar joined Barcelona in 2013, where he was part of the MSN attacking trio alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez. He finished as the joint top scorer in the UEFA Champions League and the joint top scorer in the Copa del Rey as Barcelona completed the continental treble in 2014–15. At the age of 23, Neymar was viewed as one of the world's three best players, alongside Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. After four seasons, Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 in a world-record €222 million transfer. Despite becoming injury-prone, he remained PSG's talisman and was vital to Ligue 1 title wins in 2017–18, 2019–20 and 2022–23, but failed to win the Champions League, with PSG finishing as runners-up in 2020 and being eliminated in the 2020–21 semi-finals. As one of the club's all-time top goalscorers, he is one of the few players to have scored over 100 goals with three clubs. In 2023, he joined Saudi club Al-Hilal before returning to Santos in January 2025. Neymar was capped 130 times for the Brazil national team, the second-most for the country. He appeared in four consecutive FIFA World Cups from 2014 to 2026, scoring nine goals in 15 matches. His international honours include the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, as well as an Olympic gold medal in 2016 — the nation's first — and a silver medal in 2012. After missing Brazil's triumph at the 2019 Copa América due to injury, Neymar 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. 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.