Neymar surpasses Pele to become Brazil's all-time leading scorer with 79th goal

Brazil's Neymar walks onto the pitch with a banner wishing hospitalized football emperor Pele a speedy recovery after Brazil's 4-1 victory over South Korea during the Qatar 2022 World Cup round of 16 match between South Korea and Brazil at Doha Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, Friday afternoon (local time).

Neymar, 31, has surpassed the late samba soccer legend Pele as Brazil's all-time leading goalscorer.

Neymar scored a brace against Bolivia in the first South American qualifier for the 2026 North and Central American World Cup at the Mangueirão in Belém, Brazil, on Monday (Dec. 9).

Brazil cruised to a 5-1 victory with two goals from Neymar and back-to-back goals from Rodrigo (Real Madrid) and Xavi (Barcelona).

Neymar missed a penalty in the 17th minute of the first half. He then had several other chances but was denied by the opposition goalkeeper.

Neymar's goal came in the second half, when he scored Brazil's fourth goal 16 minutes into the second half with a 3-0 lead. With his hands over his face, Neymar was obviously overjoyed.

Neymar then hit the post once more, and then scored the winning goal in stoppage time to make it 4-1. He took a cross from the flank and finished with his right foot.

This is Neymar's 79th goal in A-match play (124 games). He surpassed Pele, who previously held the record with 77 goals.

Pele represented Brazil from 1957 to 1971 and scored 77 goals in his career.

The record for most goals for Brazil's men's and women's national teams is held by Marta in women's soccer (115).

Neymar made his debut for Brazil in 2010. He made his professional debut in 2009 with Santos (Brazil) and went on to play for Barcelona (Spain) and Paris Saint-Germain (France). He moved to Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal in the summer transfer window. sportstoto.link