Neymar Jr. dethroned O Rei, Pelé, and won the crown of top scorer in the history of Brazil, thanks to the two goals he scored yesterday in the thrashing of Bolivia (5-1) at the beginning of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The record has been confirmed by FIFA, but it is not without controversy. For world football's governing body, Neymar now has 79 goals in history compared to the 77 of Pelé, who recently died. However, for the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), which counts some friendly matches that are not considered by FIFA, Pelé scored 95 goals, 16 more than the ex-Blaugrana has accumulated.
"I am very happy. I would never have imagined that I would break this record. But I don't want to say that I am better than Pelé just because I have surpassed him in this record", declared Neymar jr. after the triumph of the national team in the Amazonian city of Belém.
The striker, transferred this summer to Saudi Al-Hilal, wasted the first chance he had against Bolivia to break the record after missing a penalty after 16 minutes of the match. The long-awaited moment arrived in the 60th minute. Rodrygo assisted and the ex-PSG player scored against Bolivian goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra. It was Brazil's fourth goal.
It wasn't enough for Neymar, who in the 79th minute sent a shot over the crossbar and in the 92nd minute, already in added time, he climbed back with the second of his account and the fifth for Brazil after taking advantage of a cross shot from the Blaugrana Raphinha. The other goals for the canarinha were converted by Madrid's Rodrygo, also with a double, and Raphinha himself.
Afterwards, Neymar received a hand plaque from the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Ednaldo Rodrigues, who credited him as the canarinha's top scorer in matches between national teams. "I just want to write my name in the history of the Brazilian national team and thank my family, who is far away, and my teammates", he expressed when he received the tribute.
The Brazilian's record is not in vain, as it surpasses great world-class strikers throughout history and who collaborated to make Brazil, with five, the most awarded team in the World Cup. After Neymar (79 goals) and Pelé (77), there are Ronaldo Nazário (62), Romário (55), Zico (48), Bebeto (39), Rivaldo (35), Jairzinho and Ronaldinho Gaúcho (33) and Ademir and Tostão (32), all retired several years ago.
In the global ranking, Neymar now occupies eighth position, with the same goals as the Polish Lewandowski and the Zambian Chitalu, but he is surpassed, among others, by Cristiano Ronaldo (123), Ali Daei (109), Messi (104) ) and Puskas (84).
