Next year’s World Cup will in all likelihood be the last of Neymar’s career, because according to him, he may not ‘have the strength of mind to deal with football anymore’
The PSG star, Neymar has represented the Selecao at the 2014 World Cup on home soil and in Russia four years later. Moreover, it may not be similar for other World Cup tournaments to come as the Brazilian international expects next winters’ tournament to be his final appearance on football’s biggest stage.
Neymar will be 34 by the time the biggest competition in the world crosses the Atlantic for the first time since 1994, with the USA, Canada and Mexico set to host the 2026 World Cup.
The Brazilian, however, sounds unwilling to prolong his international career for another four years.
‘I think it’s my last World Cup,’ the 29-year-old said during the making of ‘Neymar & The Line of Kings’, an exclusive new documentary.
‘I see it as my last because I don’t know if I have the strength of mind to deal with football anymore. So, I’ll do everything to turn up well, do everything to win with my country, to realize my greatest dream since I was little. And I hope I can do it.’
Neymar has won a combined 18 major trophies with Barcelona and PSG – including the Champions League and five league titles – but his success at club hasn’t translated onto the international stage.
Aside from the Olympic gold he won at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Neymar’s only trophy with the national team came in 2013 when Brazil lifted the Confederation Cup.
A year later, Neymar carried the hopes of a country on his shoulders as Brazil chased a first World Cup title since 2002.
The then-Barcelona striker scored a brace against Croatia and Cameroon in the group stages, before suffering an injury in the quarterfinal win against Colombia that ruled him out of the semifinal against Germany.
Neymar could only watch from the sidelines as his teammates suffered a historic 7-1 mauling at the hands of the eventual winners.
Four years later, Neymar netted against Costa Rica in the group stages and scored in the round of 16 win against Mexico, before Brazil were eliminated by Belgium in the quarterfinals.
In July, Neymar was part of the Brazil team that lost the Copa America final on home soil against Argentina, as Lionel Messi inspired the Albiceleste to a first major trophy since 1993.