Whilst one of the club's highest ever scorers, continuing injuries caused PSG to sell Neymar in 2023 to Al Hilal for €90 million, a Saudi Pro League record transfer.

[23] Neymar began playing football at an early age and he was soon spotted by Santos who offered him a contract in 2003; where he was inducted into their youth academy, which has, in the past, produced Brazilian internationals like Coutinho, Clodoaldo, Diego, Elano and Alex.

"[35] One year later Neymar said, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, that he had been happy with Chelsea's interest in him as it was a "dream" of his "to play in Europe", while also stating that at the time it had been the right decision to stay in Brazil.

The latter came to the forefront during a league match against Atlético Goianiense, on 15 September 2010, when Santos' manager, Dorival Júnior, appointed another player to take the penalty awarded for a foul on Neymar.

[58] On 31 December, he won the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year award for the first time, by a record margin, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona, Romário, Pelé and Zico.

[95] On 18 September, he made his UEFA Champions League debut, assisting a Gerard Piqué goal as Barça beat Ajax 4–0 in their opening match of the 2013–14 tournament.

[107] After securing the league title on 17 May with a 1–0 win over Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón, Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 3–1 at Camp Nou in the 2015 Copa del Rey Final on 30 May, with Neymar scoring the second goal for Barça.

[135] On 3 August 2017, Barcelona announced that Neymar's legal representatives made a payment of €222 million[136] to the club, equal to the release clause of his contract, which constituted the most expensive transfer ever.

[152] Forming a prolific attacking trio alongside teenage French prodigy Kylian Mbappé and Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani, Neymar scored one each in PSG's two opening games of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage, with the team winning 5–0 at Celtic and 3–0 at home over Bayern Munich respectively.

[170] Neymar suffered a hamstring injury in October while on international duty with Brazil,[171] and returned to play for PSG during their Champions League group match against Real Madrid on 26 November in a 2–2 draw.

[207] Four days later, he made his return to league play and his first start in 2022 in a match against Nantes; he scored a goal and missed a penalty in a 3–1 loss at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

[234] Some media outlets criticised Neymar for choosing to not remain in a top European league and dubbed him as the 'Prince who never became King' due to leaving Europe without winning the Ballon d'Or.

[239] In January 2024, Al Hilal deregistered Neymar as a result of his season ending injury, in order to free up one of the eight foreign roster spots for Renan Lodi.

[249] According to Reuters, "The Urbano Caldeira stadium erupted in celebration as jubilant and tearful fans lit up their mobile phones to give the striker, who left the club 12 years ago, a hero's welcome before kick-off.

[257] On 26 July 2010, Neymar was selected for the first time in the Brazil senior team by new head coach Mano Menezes for a friendly match against the United States to be played in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

[260][261] While Scottish officials explained that Neymar had been booed solely for perceived injury-feigning, a German student who was in the stadium amongst Brazil supporters said that he threw the banana with no racist intentions.

[268] In Brazil's first warm-up match on 20 July 2012, against the host nation Great Britain at Riverside Stadium, Neymar was involved in both goals of a 2–0 win, first making an assist with a free-kick into the six-yard box for Sandro's header, before converting a penalty.

[295] Without their injured talisman Neymar (and the suspended captain Thiago Silva), Brazil would ultimately lose in the semi-final in a stunning 7–1 defeat to eventual champion Germany on 8 July.

[307] The CBF had wanted Neymar to play at the Copa América Centenario and the Olympics in Rio during the summer of 2016, but after a request from Barcelona manager Luis Enrique, he was rested from the first tournament.

[322] After the Mexico game, BBC Sport wrote that despite Neymar's "good performances" coming up top in several statistics at the World Cup, "there is still a sense that he remains widely unpopular among neutrals" due to his "petulance and the play-acting".

[329] On 13 June 2021, in Brazil's opening group match of the 2021 Copa América, which took place on home soil, Neymar scored his team's second goal from the penalty spot and later assisted another for Gabriel Barbosa in a 3–0 win over Venezuela.

[356] He often plays as a left winged for both club and country in the team's 4–3–3 formation due to his pace and playmaking skills; this position allows him to shoot with his stronger foot and create chances for teammates.

"[143] In February 2023, the day after PSG lost to Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, images of Neymar in a fast-food restaurant surfaced on social media.

[420] Several days before the decision made by the French league, Spanish radio station Cadena SER claimed to have footage of Neymar racially abusing OM player Hiroki Sakai.

[417] In the summer of 2023, Agence France-Presse, citing local authorities, reported that Neymar faced a potential fine of about $1 million for environmental violations committed during the construction of his Mangaratiba mansion.

[443][444] Neymar also appears as a playable operator in the 2022 first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II alongside fellow football players Paul Pogba and Lionel Messi,[445] whose character models were released as downloadable content to coincide with the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

[450] In March 2015, Neymar had the fourth highest social media rank in the world among sportspeople, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and David Beckham, with 52 million Facebook fans.

[456] In November 2014, Neymar appeared in FIFA's "11 against Ebola" campaign with a selection of top football players from around the world, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Xavi and Didier Drogba.

[457] Under the slogan "Together, we can beat Ebola", FIFA's campaign was done in conjunction with the Confederation of African Football and health experts, with the players holding up eleven messages to raise awareness of the disease and ways to combat it.

[463] In the days leading up to the 2022 Brazilian presidential election, Neymar appeared in a TikTok video where he lip-synced a campaign jingle promoting the country's right-wing and socially conservative President Jair Bolsonaro.