 "Brazil's Neymar celebrates scoring his side's 5th goal against Bolivia during a qualifying soccer match for the FIFA World Cup 2026 at Mangueirao stadium in Belem, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)")
Star forward Neymar will be aiming to fulfill his dream of helping Brazil win the FIFA World Cup in what will be his final appearance at the showpiece event in 2026. The 32-year-old left-winger, who is Brazil’s all-time leading goal-scorer with 79 goals, has been sidelined for more than a year now due to injury and has vowed to do everything he can to be fit for the 2026 edition of the World Cup that will be co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico.
Neymar is yet to feature in the final of a FIFA World Cup final since making his international debut in 2010, with the five-time world champions suffering a brutal 1-7 thrashing at the hands of eventual champions Germany in the 2014 edition at home followed by quarter-final exits in 2018 and 2022.
“I will try, I want to be there. I will do everything I can to be part of the national team. I know this will be my last World Cup, my last shot, my last chance and I will do everything I can to play in it,” Neymar told CNN.
The 32-year-old also hinted at a potential ‘MSN’ reunion with former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Inter Miami in the United States’ Major Soccer League (MLS). Neymar had played four seasons with the Catalan giants before making a €222 million move to Paris Saint-Germain – which remains a world record to this day – in the summer of 2017.
He added that while he’s ‘happy’ at Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal, the club he had joined in the summer of 2023 for a fee of €90 million, he doesn’t rule out a move to America in the near future.
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“Obviously, playing again with Messi and Suarez would be incredible. They are my friends, we still speak to each other.
“It would be interesting to revive this trio. I’m happy at Al-Hilal, I’m happy in Saudi Arabia, but who knows. Football is full of surprises,” he added.