It was always going to end in tears with Neymar, wasn't it? The Brazilian superstar has confirmed that his international career is over after Brazil were knocked out of the 2026 World Cup by Norway, and by all accounts he was absolutely devastated in the aftermath. Whatever you think of Neymar as a person or a player, there's no denying that watching him say goodbye to the yellow shirt for the last time hits differently.
Neymar has been the face of Brazilian football for well over a decade, and that's both his greatest achievement and his heaviest burden. He carried the weight of a nation that wanted him to be the next Pelé, which was frankly an unfair ask of anyone walking the planet. He was brilliant in stretches, genuinely world-class on his best days, but the injuries, the controversies, and the heartbreaks at major tournaments have defined his international story just as much as the goals and the skills.
Losing to Norway is a tough way to go out. Norway have been building quietly for years off the back of Erling Haaland and a generation of solid footballers, so it's not a complete shock when you think about it, but for Brazil it will sting enormously. They came into this tournament with expectations, as they always do, and going home early at the hands of a Scandinavian side was not in the script.
For Neymar personally, this is the end of a World Cup dream that never quite came true. He was sensational in 2014 before injury cruelly cut his tournament short, and Brazil have never really got close since. He retires from international football without that winner's medal, and that will hurt him and the fans who believed he could one day deliver it.
It's easy to point at the inconsistencies and the drama that followed him around, but the honest truth is Brazil will miss him. Finding someone to fill that creative void is going to be a real challenge going forward. He was flawed, brilliant, infuriating and magical all at once, which is a pretty entertaining combination when you think about it.
Let me know your thoughts.