Neymar confirms his Brazil goodbye
The Brazilian spoke about his return to the ‘canarinha’ after Santos's victory and said, “my time with the Brazilian national team is over.”
Neymar will not wear the Brazil shirt again. The Brazilian star confirmed what he had already hinted at after the 2026 World Cup elimination against Norway. Following Santos’s victory, which secured the club’s place in the Copa Sudamericana round of 16, Neymar said: “My time with the national team is over. I made history, I was very happy, I gave my blood, my life.” He added: “I always fought and worked hard for this shirt, but I think I no longer want to.”
What is Neymar’s record with the Brazil national team?
Those words reinforced what he had already said after Brazil’s defeat to Norway in the World Cup, a match in which Neymar converted a penalty after the result had effectively been decided. “I tried, I tried. Now it’s over. I started here, I finish here,” he said after the elimination. At 34, that match may have been Neymar’s last appearance for the Canarinha. He finishes his international career with 130 caps, 80 goals and 58 assists, including nine goals at World Cups.
In terms of silverware, Neymar leaves the national team with three titles: the Confederations Cup, in which Brazil defeated Spain in the final; the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he converted the decisive penalty against Germany; and the 2011 South American U-20 Championship, where he finished as the tournament’s top scorer.
Even without winning either the World Cup or the Copa América, Neymar departs as one of Brazil’s greatest football legends. The heartbreak of 2014 still lingers, when he suffered an injury in the quarterfinals and it seemed that year might finally have been his.
NEYMAR NÃO JOGARÁ A COPA DE 2030! 🇧🇷❌ O craque falou em entrevista que o seu momento na Seleção acabou e não deve mais vestir Amarelinha. #SeleçãoBrasileiro #FBR pic.twitter.com/ScqEXPe5UI
— TNT Sports BR (@TNTSportsBR) July 29, 2026
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