Santos
At Santos, Neymar would begin to finetune his craft all while helping Santos back to the top of Brazilian soccer. In five seasons from 2009-2013, Neymar would score an impressive 136 goals in 225 games for Santos. Not only that but Neymar was instrumental in winning the 2011 Copa Libertadores for the club, defeating Peñarol of Uruguay in the final.
During this period, Neymar was capped by Brazil for the first time in 2010 in a 2-0 friendly match victory against the United States on August 10 2010. He’d cement himself as one of the greatest players in Santos history and the best of the current generation.
Neymar would win the following titles at the Brazilian club:
- Campeonato Paulista: 2010, 2011, 2012
- Copa do Brasil: 2010
- Copa Libertadores: 2011
- Recopa Sudamericana: 2012
Barcelona
It was truly a miracle that Neymar lasted as long as he did in Brazil. Brazilian soccer was going through an economic boom in the lead up to the 2014 World Cup in the country and Neymar was paid handsomely during his time there. Still, Europe came calling and it was FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi that would be the next chapter of Neymar’s career, and the Spanish giants went on to pay $64 million for his services.
Neymar arrived to a team loaded with talent and that took pressure off of the young Brazilian, being one of the boys on Lionel Messi’s team. Neymar would prove to be pivotal as he formed the MSN connection with Messi and Luis Suarez. The South American trio took LaLiga by storm and Barcelona defeated everyone, many games were 4-0 by halftime on various occasions.
Without question Neymar was playing with the best team in the world, and it showed—the club won:
- La Liga: 2014–15, 2015–16
- Copa del Rey: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17
- Supercopa de España: 2013
- UEFA Champions League: 2014–15
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2015.
The Champions League triumph was against Juventus and the Club World Cup was a sound victory over River Plate of Argentina, giving Barcelona their third Club World Cup. It was with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Andrés Iniesta, and of course, Neymar, that the world saw some of the best soccer ever played by any team in history.
In only four seasons and being at times the third or fourth most important player on that Barcelona team, Neymar scored an impressive 105 goals in 186 games for Barca. His time was seen as a resounding success.
Paris Saint-Germain
At PSG, Neymar wanted to step out of Lionel Messi’s shadow and be the central figure of a team on his own. PSG would be that team and the French club paid 200 million euros to sign the Brazilian. In 2017, Neymar arrived in Paris and while the team was made for him to be its star, he did clash with Edinson Cavani. Cavani was PSG’s unquestionable best player and the two had issues on the field at times.
While Neymar has played well at PSG, injuries and the Champions League have put a dent on what would have been a stellar career in France. In his second season Neymar would only play 17 league games and the following season just 15. Nonetheless Neymar has cracked the 100 goal mark for PSG across all competitions in 144 games.
The jury is still out on Neymar, who has been reunited with Lionel Messi and also has Kylian Mbappé on the current squad. Despite winning various titles in Ligue 1, Coupe the France, Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions, it’s Champions League or bust for the winger.
- Ligue 1: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22,
- Coupe de France: 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21,
- Coupe de la Ligue: 2017–18, 2019–20
- Trophée des Champions: 2018, 2020
Brazil
With the Brazilian national team, Neymar has represented the country in two World Cups, three Copa America’s, two Summer Olympics, and one Confederations Cup. Neymar has 119 caps for Brazil and 74 goals.
As we’re writing this article, Neymar is the fourth most capped Brazilian soccer player of all time and second highest goalscorer in the country's history over Ronaldo, Romario, Zico, and Bebeto.
Neymar has six World Cup goals in 10 matches where Brazil came in fourth in 2014 and sixth in 2018. In the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament, in the quarter finals against Colombia, Neymar suffered a serious back injury when Juan Camilo Zúñiga kneed the Brazilian in the back and suffered a fractured vertebra in his spine taking him out of the tournament.
Neymar will be the central figure for the Brazil national team in the 2022 World Cup, where the five-time world champions will be odds on favorite to win the whole thing in Qatar.
With Brazil, Neymar only has one title, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup which Brazil won when they defeated Spain in the final and Neymar had four goals in the tournament.
