Neymar Jr.: The Weight of Expectations

For most footballers, an injury only interrupts a career: a reminder that no matter how talented an athlete is, they will succumb to their physical limitations. Yet, most times, they are able to recover and come back stronger, only viewing it as a slight hiccup. For Neymar Jr., injuries began to define his whole career. He fractured his back while carrying Brazil’s hopes at a World Cup played at home, broke the same foot twice while playing as hard as he could to justify his record transfer fee, and injured his ankle as another World Cup slipped away from his grasp. Then, in October 2023, Neymar collapsed again. This time, he ruptured his ACL and meniscus. Months into rehabilitation, he admitted that thoughts of stopping playing had crossed his mind. Behind one of football’s most recognized and beloved players was someone who had spent his life being asked to become something extraordinary, and whose body repeatedly stopped him from realizing what people dreamed of him becoming.

Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. was born on February 5, 1992, in São Paulo. His father had played professional football without achieving major football success and financial freedom. He would try to live his dreams through Neymar, becoming one of the central figures managing his son’s career.

The family was not wealthy. Neymar describes periods of financial struggle, forcing the family to move into a single room in Neymar’s grandmother’s house. One of the affordable outlets available to Neymar during this time was a local social club, where he spent hours playing futsal. His abilities rose dramatically through futsal, and Neymar would eventually enter the Santos system at the age of 11.

Neymar made his Santos first-team debut at 17 in 2009. He wasn’t simply treated as an exciting teenager, however. Brazil had been searching for their next star since Pelé, and Neymar rapidly became one of the most famous young athletes to keep an eye on.

At Santos, he helped the club win the 2010 Copa do Brasil and the 2011 Copa Libertadores. This was Santos’s first Libertadores championship since the era of Pelé. His spectacular goal against Flamengo in 2011 would later win FIFA’s Puskás Award. Through his evolution, Neymar’s expectations also evolved, eventually raising the question of whether Neymar could help bring Brazil another World Cup.

Neymar joined Barcelona in 2013. Instead of becoming their only superstar, Neymar joined a club already featuring two of the most prominent footballers during that era: Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez. The three would create the famous MSN attacking trio. Neymar lived up to expectations, and Barcelona would go on to win La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League, with Neymar scoring the final goal against Juventus in the Champions League Final.

Before that triumph, however, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil would change his fate forever.

Brazil hadn’t won the World Cup since 2002, and Neymar, being the country’s biggest star, was expected to win it, given that the tournament was at home. Neymar would deliver early, scoring four goals and helping Brazil advance to the quarterfinals against Colombia. Then, it happened. Juan Camilo Zúñiga struck Neymar in the back with his knee, and he collapsed. He was carried from the field, evidently in agonizing pain, and diagnosed with a fractured vertebra. Brazil’s coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, said Neymar had initially told teammates that he couldn’t feel his legs.

Without Neymar, Brazil would subsequently suffer one of the country’s worst defeats in history, losing 7–1 to Germany in the semifinal.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Neymar entered the tournament again on home soil, facing enormous expectations. Brazil hadn’t won an Olympic men’s football gold medal, and this time, Neymar helped the country make history.

Neymar scored in regulation and then converted the winning penalty against Germany, the country that had taken Brazil’s spot in the final of the 2014 World Cup. Despite what seemed like a great run, in 2017, Neymar made one of the biggest decisions of his career. Paris Saint-Germain spent €222 million on Neymar’s release clause, making Neymar the most expensive footballer ever and leading to him leaving Barcelona.

Neymar wanted the opportunity to move out of Messi’s shadow and establish himself as the face of a club. Being the center of the squad had its consequences, and expectations were through the roof considering Neymar was a part of football history’s largest transfer. Neymar was expected to win Ligue 1, win the Champions League, and become the world’s best player.

Then, unfortunately, the injuries continued. In February 2018, Neymar suffered a serious injury to his right foot, ending his club season. The 2018 World Cup was coming soon, and instead of preparing, Neymar spent months rehabilitating. Brazil would lose to Belgium in the quarterfinal, and Neymar would become the Brazil squad’s global scapegoat.

Neymar’s reactions to the fouls he received generated widespread criticism for his exaggerations. After the tournament, Neymar acknowledged that he sometimes exaggerated his reactions but emphasized that they came in response to the repeated physical challenges he had suffered on the pitch.

Then, in 2019, he injured the same foot again. PSG announced an extremely conservative treatment that would last 10 weeks. He had already missed a decisive portion of PSG’s previous Champions League run, and now he would miss another critical portion. He left the stadium in tears, and ESPN calculated that since arriving at PSG, Neymar had missed roughly half of PSG’s matches.

In 2020, however, Neymar would stay healthy enough to take the club to its first Champions League final. They would lose 1–0 to Bayern Munich, and Neymar would cry after, feeling as though he had failed the club.

By the early 2020s, Neymar’s attitude toward football had evidently changed. He increasingly talked about the burden he had to carry and the pressure that came with it. In a 2021 DAZN interview, Neymar discussed the possibility of the 2022 World Cup being his last because he wasn’t sure he had the mental strength to continue facing the extreme criticism.

Going into the 2022 World Cup, Brazil’s squad was built around Neymar. Then, in Brazil’s opening match, Neymar would injure his ankle. He missed the remainder of the group stage but fought his way back for the quarterfinal against Croatia. Neymar put Brazil ahead in extra time, but minutes before Brazil made it to the semifinals, Croatia equalized, and Brazil would eventually lose on penalties.

Neymar would sit on the pitch crying, later writing that he was psychologically destroyed and that the defeat froze him and made him unable to stop crying.

Neymar’s PSG chapter would end in 2023, right after he sprained his right ankle once again. He would leave PSG for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia before once again suffering a major injury while representing Brazil.

This time, he tore both his ACL and meniscus in his left knee, leading to months of rehabilitation. During his rehabilitation in 2024, Neymar publicly admitted that there were days when he wanted to give up but continued to push forward regardless.

In January 2025, Neymar would return to Santos, where everything had begun. During his 2025 season with Santos, Neymar publicly acknowledged that he had struggled mentally and sought professional help.

In March 2026, Neymar reflected on the sacrifices and scrutiny surrounding his career, and he talked about missing normal childhood experiences and sacrificing them to chase his football dream. He emphasized that despite all the fame, wealth, and success, he experienced ordinary human emotions and was just like everyone else.

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Neymar Jr.: The Weight of Expectations

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