For most footballers, a Round of 32 tie is just another knockout game. For Neymar, it’s a reunion with his favourite opponent. As Brazil prepare to face Japan at the FIFA World Cup 2026, all eyes will once again be on the Selecao’s record goalscorer, whose extraordinary record against the Asian giants borders on unbelievable.
Nine goals. Five matches.
No country has conceded more international goals to Neymar than Japan. In fact, he has scored more against them than he has managed against Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador or the United States.
The timing could hardly be better for Brazil.
The 34-year-old only recently returned to the national team after an absence of nearly 1,000 days, making his first World Cup appearance of the tournament in Brazil’s comfortable 3-0 win over Scotland. Now comes an opponent that has repeatedly brought out the very best in him.
Japan have witnessed almost every version of Neymar’s evolution.
They faced the teenage Santos sensation in 2012, the newly-crowned Confederations Cup superstar in 2013, the Barcelona magician who scored four goals in a single match in 2014, and later the experienced Paris Saint-Germain forward who continued finding the net against them in both 2017 and 2022.
His four-goal demolition of Japan in Singapore remains one of the finest individual performances of his international career, while his spectacular volley in the 2013 Confederations Cup clash was later voted the greatest goal he scored for Brazil.
Across 129 international appearances, Neymar has rewritten Brazil’s record books, overtaking Pele to become the country’s all-time leading scorer with 79 goals. This World Cup also places him in elite company, alongside Pele, Ronaldo and Cafu as one of only four Brazilians to feature at four FIFA World Cups.
History, though, offers Brazil one more reason to smile ahead of the knockout clash.
Whenever Neymar has lined up against Japan, goals have almost always followed. With nine already to his name against the Samurai Blue, Brazil will hope their returning superstar has saved another big performance for the stage that matters most.