When the final whistle blew, Neymar Jr sat down in the grass, put his head in his hands and sobbed.
It wasn’t just that Brazil had been eliminated from the 2026 World Cup, losing to Norway 2–1 in the round of 16 on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Rather, it signified the true end of the Brazilian legend’s international career.
“It is now over,” he said post-match in tears.
Prior to the summer’s tournament, the 34-year-old had seriously considered that his international career was already over. After all, he hadn’t been called up for his country since 2023, plagued by injury after injury.
Yet the entire nation rejoiced when he earned a surprise call-up from manager Carlo Ancelotti for the World Cup, seeing Neymar cry tears of joy at the announcement and allowing him to make a miraculous return to the Seleção.
Perhaps no longer the talisman on the pitch, he was nevertheless the spiritual force that gave the team and its fans life. The new talisman, Vinicius Jr, even gave him the iconic No. 10 jersey to wear.
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Full Circle for Neymar
Neymar ended his international career exactly the way he started it, in East Rutherford, N.J.
He made his international debut in August 2010, in a friendly against the USMNT. The youngster, just 18 at the time, started the match and scored his first international goal in the 2–0 win at the former MetLife Stadium (New Meadowlands).
On Sunday, nearly 16 years later, he played his last international match and scored his last international goal, also at MetLife Stadium. He came on in the 67th minute against Norway and scored a penalty kick in stoppage time to extend his country’s all-time goals record to 80.
“It started here at MetLife Stadium, and I finished here,” Neymar said.
Neymar did not otherwise make much of an impact this summer, even missing out on the first two group stages matches due to injury. He made a brief 14-minute cameo in the 3–0 victory over Scotland in the group stage finale before his appearance against Norway. Nevertheless, he ended on the exactly the right note, in exactly the right place.
The Brazilian star can walk away for good—after four World Cups and two Olympics—with his head held high, knowing that he defied the odds just by simply being there.
