Neymar Needs 1 Goal In FIFA World Cup 2026 To Equal Pele's Record Of...

Neymar Jr. is all set to play his first match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 for Brazil on Wednesday (Thursday IST). According to Carlo Ancelotti, the 34-year-old forward, who is Brazil’s all-time leading goal-scorer in international football, will feature in their third Group C match against Scotland. In the fixture scheduled to take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Neymar will have a chance to enter his name in the history books.

If Neymar scores at least one goal against Scotland, he will become only the second Brazilian after Pelé to score in four different FIFA World Cup editions.

Pelé, the only player to have won three FIFA World Cup titles, scored six goals for Brazil in the 1958 edition, one goal each in the 1962 and 1966 editions,

and four goals in the 1970 tournament.

Goals by Pele in FIFA World Cup

EDITION	GOALS	AGAINST
1958	6	Wales (1), France (3), Sweden (2)
1962	1	Mexico (1)
1966	1	Bulgaria (1)
1970	4	Czechoslovakia (1), Romania (2), Italy (1)

Neymar, on the other hand, scored four goals at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and netted twice each in the 2018 and 2022 editions.

Goals by Neymar in FIFA World Cup

GOAL	AGAINST	VENUE	DATE
1	Croatia	Arena Corinthians, São Paulo	June 12, 2014
2	Croatia	Arena Corinthians, São Paulo	June 12, 2014
3	Cameroon	Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília	June 23, 2014
4	Cameroon	Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília	June 23, 2014
5	Costa Rica	Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg	June 22, 2018
6	Mexico	Solidarnost Arena, Samara	July 2, 2018
7	South Korea	Stadium 974, Doha	December 5, 2022
8	Croatia	Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan	December 9, 2022

The world record for scoring in the most FIFA World Cup editions belongs to Cristiano Ronaldo. The 41-year-old has scored in six editions for Portugal. He is followed by Lionel Messi, who has scored in five editions, while Pelé, Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose have each scored in four editions.

Players to score goals in most FIFA World Cup editions

PLAYER	COUNTRY	TOURNAMENTS SCORED	GOALS	TOURNAMENTS
Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	6	9*	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
Lionel Messi	Argentina	5	18	2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
Miroslav Klose	Germany	4	16	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
Pele	Brazil	4	12	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
Uwe Seeler	West Germany	4	9	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970

If Neymar manages to score a brace against Scotland, he will become only the third player in history, after Seeler and Klose, to score at least two goals in four different FIFA World Cup editions.

Seeler scored two goals each for West Germany in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 FIFA World Cups and found the back of the net three times in the 1970 edition. Klose, meanwhile, scored five goals each in the 2002 and 2006 tournaments, four in 2010 and two in the 2014 edition.