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In late 2021, Paris Saint-Germain striker Neymar da Silva Santos Jr, popularly known as Neymar or Neymar Jr, shocked the world by announcing that the 2022 FIFA World Cup live in Qatar would be his last.
Neymar, 30, told DAZN in October 2021: “I think this is my last World Cup. I see it as my last because I do not know if I have the strength to deal with football anymore.”
He went on to clear the air in an interview with Red Bull, for which he is the global brand ambassador. He said: “When I said that, it was a bit controversial where people said I would stop playing football and that I would leave the national team.
“People understood a completely different thing. I would say I see it as if it was the last one. Why? Because we do not know what tomorrow will be like and what can happen. ”
One thing is clear from both statements: Neymar, like his best friend and PSG striker partner Lionel Messi, could play at his last and see Messi World Cup game live 2022.
The former Santos striker has been the most impressive player on the international stage since his compatriot Pele. He has outperformed the biggest names in international tournaments, including his friend Messi.
Now let’s take a look at Neymar’s world championship record compared to Messi’s to see who has performed better.
Messi vs Neymar Number of World Cups
Both players appeared in their national team around the same age – 18 for Neymar and 19 for Messi. But unlike Messi, Neymar was denied the opportunity to represent Brazil at the 2010 World Cup, as Brazil’s manager at the time, Dunga, believed he was still young and inexperienced.
Neymar debuted on the global stage in 2014, meaning that one of Brazil’s most amazing players of the 21st century has only two World Cup appearances to his name.
Messi, on the other hand, has four and can get his fifth appearance this year, while Neymar gets his third.
Messi vs Neymar Number of appearances
The seven-time Ballon d’or winner has 19 World Cup matches under his belt, while Neymar has 10, as expected, due to the number of World Cups they have been to. Out of these 19 apps, however, Messi has been signed up twice, but Neymar has started all 10 of his World Cup matches.
Brazil reached the semifinals and third place in the playoffs in 2014, but Neymar only played all five matches up to the quarterfinals, where he suffered a back injury. He also played all five matches up to the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup.
Messi, on the other hand, played three matches in the World Cup in 2006, when Argentina reached the quarter-finals, all the matches up to the quarter-finals of the 2010 edition, all the matches up to the final of the 2014 edition, and all the matches. play up to the round of 16 in the 2018 edition.
Messi vs Neymar Number of goals
As previously mentioned, Neymar is considered to be a much better player on the international stage than Messi. His stats are better, and so are his trophy moves.
In his ten World Cup matches, Neymar has six goals, the same as Messi in his 19 matches. It is claimed that Neymar would have been the greatest player on the continent of South America if he and Messi started at the same time.
Messi vs Neymar Antal assists
The assist numbers are where Messi edges Neymar out, as the Argentine has collected five World Cup assists, while Neymar has three.
Messi assisted twice at the World Cup in 2006 and once each in the 2010, 2014 and 2019l8 editions. In Neymar’s two world championships, he assisted one goal (2014) and two goals (2018), respectively.
When we put both their goals and assists together, Messi has a total of 11 goal contributions from 19 matches, while Neymar has nine from 10 matches. This shows that Neymar is the superior World Cup player.
It remains to be seen who gets the title first, with both players preparing for their final World Cups.