Former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar found the back of the net twice as Brazil thrashed Bolivia 5-1 in Belem, Para, in their first match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers to become his nation’s all-time leading scorer.
The brace meant the Al-Hilal star, who is now on 79 international goals for the Samba Boys, has surpassed football icon Pele, who bagged 77 goals for Brazil, to sit atop the list that has some of the biggest names to ever play the round leather game.
Brazil have a new goalscoring king! ????????????
Neymar's 78th goal overtakes Pele as @CBF_Futebol's all-time men's leading scorer. ????#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/EmztniOFMJ
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) September 9, 2023
Playing under caretaker coach Fernando Diniz for the first time, many Brazilian fans thought the game would not go their way after Neymar missed a penalty early in the tie. However, Real Madrid forward Rodrygo Goes opened the scoring in the 24th minute after poking home Raphinha’s effort.
Raphinha got his name on the scoresheet to double Brazil’s lead just after the restart when his left-footed strike took a slight deflection before curling into the bottom corner from an assist from Neymar.
The Brazil No. 10 was also involved in their third goal, sending a chipped pass into Bruno Guimaraes, who in turn flicked it for Rodrygo to get his second and Brazil’s third of the game.
Neymar’s moment finally came a minute after the hour mark, pouncing on a loose ball in Bolivia’s box to tuck in his effort past the goal line and move his goal tally to 78, surpassing Pele’s 77. He was relentless all through the game, and he was rewarded with his second goal of the game after Victor Abrego had pulled one back for the visitors.
He connected with a low cross from Barcelona winger Raphinha before sending a strike past Guillermo Viscarra in goal for the visitors.
The strike was his 79th goal in his 125th game for the South American powerhouse. The memorable night helped Neymar move past his idol Pele, who passed away in December 2022 and had scored 77 times for the Selecao between 1957 and 1971.
