Neymar, the outstanding Brazilian player of his generation, has indicated he is retiring from international football after his team crashed out of the World Cup to Norway.
The 34-year-old forward finishes his career as the top goalscorer in the Brazilian men’s national team’s history, with 80 goals in 129 appearances.
Neymar appeared twice at the 2026 World Cup, scoring from the spot in the dying minutes of his last international outing.
But his late penalty could not save the country from their earliest World Cup exit since 1966.
Neymar has hinted several times over the past year that he would play his last game for the Selecao at this World Cup and it was reported in the Brazilian media on Sunday night that he has called it a day.
The winger broke down in tears at full-time, having bizarrely laughed in the face of Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland after dispatching his penalty minutes prior.
Carlo Ancelotti recalled Neymar to the Brazil squad for his fourth World Cup after a three-year hiatus from the national team, offering the winger one final opportunity to win the tournament. But Erling Haaland killed that dream.
Neymar’s World Cup dream and international career is over
Brazil manager Ancelotti has insisted he will not quit, despite his side being dominated in possession by Norway and falling to two late Erling Haaland goals.
Ancelotti said the 2-1 defeat was ‘bitter’ for Brazil but insisted he wanted to oversee the rebuild which was now necessary, after what was also the last Brazil game for Casemiro.
The Italian, whose contract runs to 2030, said: ‘As long as I’m passionate, I want to keep doing this job.
‘We have to think about it. It’s very evident that in the midfield we have to move some players. We need some young talent. We need some high level players coming into Brazilian football to be able to play for the national team in the future.’
‘We continue to do our jobs and look for new ideas the same thing we did this year. That is football for you. That is sport.
‘Sometimes you have to manage the sadness and bitter taste of a defeat. I am very used to that. We are going to take this defeat and use it as fuel for the new cycle.’
One of the game’s decisive moments was Bruno Guimaraes’ first half penalty miss, but Ancelotti defended the decision to allow him – rather than Vinicius Jr, who handed the ball over to Guimaraes – to take the kick.
Ancelotti said: ‘We did statistics. The best person would be Neymar and then Raphinha and after Bruno Guimaraes and after Bruno, Martinelli. So we chose Bruno Guimaraes as we felt he would be the best.’
Carlo Ancelotti won’t resign as Brazil boss despite early exit
Norway striker Erling Haaland bagged a brace to knock Brazil out of the World Cup
Haaland delivered the edge that Brazil lacked. The Manchester City striker declared last night: ‘Maybe this will write history in Norway. Everyone just need to enjoy themselves. This is just an insane day.
‘It’s one of the most insane days in Norwegian history. Just enjoy it, embrace it and enjoy the moment.’
It was a measure of the extraordinary diminution of Brazil, who would once have shown verve and style against a nation like Norway, had just 35 per cent possession. Norway completed 617 passes to Brazil’s 271.
But Ancelotti defended the way his team had played. ‘We knew they could play with this style and we didn’t want to press high,’ he said. ’Because Norway was locking their defensive field, applying too much pressure was a risk.’
While Norway manager Stole Solbakken’s bold substitutes worked perfect, Ancelotti brought in Lyon player Endrick, who missed the game’s outstanding chance in run of play, in the second half. But the Brazil boss defended his changes.
‘Endrick came in to give a lot more depth to the match,’ he said.
‘That worked for one minute or two and then to bring in that quality to the final third we brought in Neymar, with Endrick on the right.
‘Then we changed Bruno because he was tired, so fresh legs in the midfield.’
