Neymar's World Cup story has always lived between beauty and pain.
Few players have carried more expectation. Few have produced more magic. Few have been interrupted so often by injury at exactly the wrong moment.
Neymar has played in four World Cups: 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026. His World Cup record stands at 14 appearances, eight goals and four assists, according to ESPN.
In 2014, he was Brazil's chosen son. The tournament was at home. The pressure was suffocating. Neymar scored four goals and looked ready to take Brazil all the way — until a fractured vertebra against Colombia ended his tournament. Without him, Brazil collapsed 7-1 against Germany. Neymar's first World Cup became national trauma.
In 2018, he returned as a superstar but arrived after another injury-disrupted season. Brazil were eliminated by Belgium in the quarterfinals. Neymar produced moments, but not the complete tournament many expected.
In 2022, he scored a magnificent extra-time goal against Croatia in the quarterfinals, seemingly sending Brazil toward the semifinals. Then Croatia equalized. Brazil lost on penalties. Neymar never even took his. The image of him in tears became another painful chapter.
Now, in 2026, the story is more fragile. Neymar is 34, Brazil's all-time leading scorer with 79 goals, and returning from years of physical setbacks. Reuters reported that he missed Brazil's first two group games with a calf injury before making an emotional comeback off the bench in a 3-0 win over Scotland, after 981 days away from the national team.
Carlo Ancelotti has been cautious. Before Brazil's Round of 32 match against Japan, he said he hoped to see more of Neymar as his fitness improved. But Neymar is no longer the only face of Brazil. Vinícius Júnior has exploded in this tournament, scoring four group-stage goals and looking like the new attacking reference point.
That makes Neymar's final chapter fascinating.
He no longer needs to be Brazil's entire attack. He can be the artist, the closer, the emotional spark, the veteran who sees the game differently. His role has changed, but his aura remains.
Neymar's legacy is complicated because genius often is. He is Brazil's top scorer. He is one of the most gifted players of his generation. He carried the Seleção through an era of expectation, criticism and heartbreak. He made football feel like street art: elastic, improvised, joyful, rebellious.
But one question remains.
Can Neymar leave the World Cup not as the nearly man, but as the final piece of Brazil's sixth star?
Celebrate Neymar's last dance: beauty, pain and Brazilian magic in one World Cup moment.
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