Neymar scores – Neymar, 34, scored a penalty in the 100th minute to close out Brazil’s World Cup Round of 16 match against Norway on Sunday, July 5 at MetLife Stadium—moments before Brazil’s elimination despite the late goal.
When Neymar went up to take the final kick of Brazil’s Round of 16 night, the match was already slipping away. Brazil was still down 2-1 with only a few minutes left at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, July 5.
The stutter-step came, then the strike. Neymar finished the moment in the 100th minute, sending the ball into the net. Even then, it wasn’t a celebration that lasted—Erling Haaland had already scored both of Norway’s goals, and Brazil’s exit followed the final whistle.
After the game ended, Neymar, 34, knelt on the pitch and appeared to pray while holding back tears. Teammates moved in to console him as he sat down. The scene carried echoes of Brazil’s 2022 World Cup exit. when he also sat on the pitch holding his knees and staring down at the ground after the disappointment.
Haaland’s output defined the other side of the night. The Manchester City star scored both for Norway and has now reached seven goals in this World Cup. marking his first time scoring that many in the tournament. His total is tied with Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot race.
For Neymar, the emotions were tied to what came before the penalty as much as the penalty itself. He missed the first two games of this World Cup because he was nursing a calf injury. then came off the bench in the group play finale against Scotland. That appearance was his first time playing for Seleção in three years, since October 2023.
It was also not the first time his body had forced the story. During the 2022 World Cup, he suffered an ankle injury in group play. He later returned to score in the knockout stage and the quarterfinals, only for Brazil to be eliminated by penalties.
This time, the late kick bookended a difficult build-up. Before the tournament, there was talk that he might not have even made Brazil’s 26-man roster because he was battling injuries and had a slow start with his club, Santos.
Still, the penalty mattered in the record book. It was Neymar’s ninth World Cup goal. He is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 79 goals, two more than Pelé.
There was no final script that made the pain easier—just a brief moment of finishing at the end, and then the heavy quiet afterward as Neymar tried to hold himself together, with his teammates close by.
Neymar Brazil Norway World Cup Round of 16 MetLife Stadium East Rutherford Erling Haaland Golden Boot Kylian Mbappé Lionel Messi Santos