Neymar found the target in Brazil’s 3-1 friendly win against France on Thursday, and that puts him joint fifth in the all-time goalscoring charts for the five-time World Cup winning nation. He’s matched with two of the biggest legends in his country’s football history, the great Jairzinho and Rivellino, who both starred in the unforgettable side that wowed the world at Mexico 1970. Even more impressively, Neymar got the 43 goals he needed in just 61 games. Jairzinho scored his 43 in 101 games and Rivellino in 120.
Zico, Pelé and two ex-Barça players
Neymar is now chasing two players that also donned the Barça shirt during their illustrious careers: Romario and Ronaldo, as well as the magnificent Brazilian of the 1970s, Zico. Romario is currently fourth with 56 goals in 74 games, Zico is third with 66 in 88 games and Ronaldo is second with 67 in 105.
It will come as no surprise that the man who tops the all-time Brazilian scoring chart is Pelé, who scored 95 goals in his 113 appearances for the ‘canarinha’. That’s more than twice the number that Neymar has in his own account, but if we remember that the Barça player is still only 23 years old, then he still has plenty of time to catch ‘O Rei’. The Neymar legend is only just beginning…
