Brazilian has written many beautiful and inspiring stories in football and must not be belittled for not winning the Ballon d’Or
This week Neymar announced that he may retire by the end of the year. The 34-year-old extended his contract with his boyhood club Santos last month, but he has admitted he is now close to the end, “living year to year”.
“I don’t know what will happen from now on, I don’t know about next year,” Neymar told Brazilian online channel Caze. “It may be that when December comes, I’ll want to retire.”
When he eventually does, it’ll be as one of the most successful players to ever grace the game. There has been a tendency to belittle Neymar’s career because he never won the Ballon d’Or, but that feels ridiculous, because the Brazilian has had a long and fulfilling career.
From Santos as one of the greatest talents to stand on the sidelines of the game waiting to be introduced, Neymar joined Barcelona in 2013 and became part of one of the most famous triumvirates in football: the MSN.
With Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, Neymar subdued club football under Luis Enrique, winning the treble in 2015 as one of the most devastating frontlines in the history of the game. In that 2014-15 season they netted an incredible combined 122 goals.
No other striking force in football has scored more – at least not in the 21st century. The following season they produced even better, scoring 131 goals. In their three seasons together, they scored a total of 364 goals.
Neymar at Barcelona was a vibe 🥺 pic.twitter.com/aT7KNG1cqN
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 27, 2025
Neymar broke up that partnership when he left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, but he was chasing even greater glories, to make a bigger impact on the game, become the first player to win the Champions League for PSG.
He “had everything” at Barcelona and was seeking something new, his father said. “A new challenge,” the Brazilian himself called it.
Just that year, he had led the Remontada, the greatest comeback in the game, when he inspired Barcelona to overturn a 4-0 first leg defeat to PSG in the Champions League, winning 6-1 in the second leg. Neymar scored twice in that game, won a penalty that Messi scored, and delivered the cross in the last seconds for Sergi Roberto to seal the victory.
In 2023, the Brazilian broke the great Pele’s record to become Brazil’s highest goalscorer of all time. It was an astonishing achievement given the amount of talent the Seleção have produced in all the long decades of football. The Neymar, rising above all the Garrinchas, the Ronaldos, the Ronaldinhos and the Rivaldos.
“I have no words for this,” Neymar said at the time. “I always wanted to write my story in the national team, and today I did that.” The then Brazil coach Diniz called him “a great hero” who goes about things quietly, a lightning rod for adoration simply for his “natural talent”.
Neymar Jr 🔟 pic.twitter.com/8BUnrki5Rj
— Santos FC (@SantosFC) September 18, 2025
And to this day there are very few who do not adore Neymar, his talent makes it difficult not to. But even in his 30s he has written one more beautiful story. He returned to his boyhood club Santos in January 2025, plagued by injuries and desperate to create something again.
And with Santos struggling to remain in Brazil’s top flight, Neymar played a huge role in their survival, refusing surgery and playing through pain to score five times in their last five games to reach safety.
Will he play in another World Cup for the Seleção? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But if he does retire at the end of the year, he will have been one of the greatest to ever play the game, even if it was not a perfect career.
