Neymar Jr. is Brazil’s highest goal-scorer in men’s football and on Sunday (July 5), during their FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match against Norway at New York New Jersey Stadium, he entered his name in the history books. The 34-year-old scored his first goal of this year’s World Cup for Brazil from the penalty spot in the 90+10th minute of the match, and that strike helped him become only the second player after Pele to score in four different FIFA World Cup editions for Brazil.
Neymar, who finished his FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with one goal in two matches for the Selecao, had previously scored four goals in the 2014 edition, two goals in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and two goals in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Neymar in FIFA World Cup for Brazil
| EDITION | HOST | GOALS | AGAINST |
| 2014 | Brazil | 4 | Croatia (2), Cameroon (2) |
| 2018 | Russia | 2 | Costa Rica (1), Mexico (1) |
| 2022 | Qatar | 2 | South Korea (1), Croatia (1) |
| 2026 | USA, Mexico, Canada | 1 | Norway (1) |
Neymar, who has 80 goals to his name in international football for Brazil, has scored against six teams in the FIFA World Cup and has three goals to his credit in two matches against Croatia.
He also scored a brace against Cameroon in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In the knockout stage, Neymar has scored four goals—one each against Mexico, South Korea, Croatia, and Norway.
Goals by Neymar Jr in FIFA World Cup
| GOAL NUMER | AGAINST | VENUE | DATE |
| 1 | Croatia | Arena Corinthians, São Paulo | June 12, 2024 |
| 2 | Croatia | Arena Corinthians, São Paulo | June 12, 2024 |
| 3 | Cameroon | Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília | June 23, 2024 |
| 4 | Cameroon | Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília | June 23, 2024 |
| 5 | Costa Rica | Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg | June 22, 2018 |
| 6 | Mexico | Solidarnost Samara Arena, Samara | July 2, 2018 |
| 7 | South Korea | Stadium 974, Doha | December 5, 2022 |
| 8 | Croatia | Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan | December 9, 2022 |
| 9 | Norway | MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford | July 5, 2026 |
Pele, who is the only player to win three FIFA World Cup winners’ medals, scored six goals for Brazil in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, one goal each in the 1962 and 1966 editions, and four goals in the 1970 edition.
The goal by Neymar in Brazil’s 1-2 defeat against Norway also helped him become only the seventh player in the world, after Pele, Uwe Seeler, Miroslav Klose, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Ivan Perišić, to score in four different FIFA World Cup editions.
Players to score in four different FIFA World Cup editions
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | EDITIONS SCORED | TOTAL GOALS | EDITIONS |
| Pele | Brazil | 4 | 12 | 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 |
| Uwe Seeler | West Germany | 4 | 9 | 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 |
| Miroslav Klose | Germany | 4 | 16 | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 6 | 11 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 5 | 20 | 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| Ivan Perisic | Croatia | 4 | 7 | 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| Neymar Jr | Brazil | 4 | 9 | 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
The nine goals by Neymar in the FIFA World Cup make him the joint-third highest goalscorer for Brazil in football’s biggest tournament. Three more players—Ademir, Vavá, and Jairzinho—have also scored nine goals for Brazil in the FIFA World Cup.
Most goals for Brazil in FIFA World Cup
| RANK | PLAYER | GOALS | WORLD CUPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ronaldo | 15 | 1998 (4), 2002 (8), 2006 (3) |
| 2 | Pelé | 12 | 1958 (6), 1962 (1), 1966 (1), 1970 (4) |
| 3 | Neymar | 9 | 2014 (4), 2018 (2), 2022 (2), 2026 (1) |
| Ademir | 9 | 1950 (9) | |
| Vavá | 9 | 1958 (5), 1962 (4) | |
| Jairzinho | 9 | 1970 (7), 1974 (2) | |
| 7 | Leônidas | 8 | 1934 (1), 1938 (7) |
| Rivaldo | 8 | 1998 (3), 2002 (5) | |
| 9 | Careca | 7 | 1986 (5), 1990 (2) |
| 10 | Bebeto | 6 | 1994 (3), 1998 (3) |
| Rivellino | 6 | 1970 (3), 1974 (3) |
The overall record for scoring the most goals for Brazil in FIFA World Cup history is held by Ronaldo. Ronaldo played 19 FIFA World Cup matches for Brazil across three editions and scored 15 goals.
He is followed by Pele, who scored 12 times for Brazil in 14 matches played across four editions.
