Brazilian Neymar, still the world’s most expensive footballer, has surpassed sporting icon and many say the best footballer of all time, Pele, in the Brazilian national team’s all-time goalscoring chart.

Neymar is thirty-one years old and participated in the qualifying match between Brazil and Bolivia when he had 77 international goals to his name. Just like Pelé. Two hits in the game made him the all-time record holder.

At the same time, the match did not start well for the former Barcelona or PSG star, as Neymar failed to convert a penalty in the first half. The 4-0 goal in the second half was already written in history. As part of the second half, Neymar completed the final score to 5: 1.

Neymar is one of the stars attracted to the Saudi League – he now plays for Al Hilal. And also always the most expensive player when it comes to moving from one club to another. When he left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, Paris paid £200 million for him.

“I never dreamed of this (shoot – editor’s note) record, nor did I strive to get it. I am not better than Pele or any other player on the national team” , Neymar said after the match.

Pelé scored 77 goals in 92 matches between 1957 and 1971. Neymar needed around twenty more matches.

“Congratulations to Neymar for surpassing the king in goals for Brazil. Pelé will definitely be cheering for you today!” wrote a Twitter account (now the X network) that claims Pelé’s link.