It’s been more than fifty years since ‘The Black Pearl’ Pele has held the scoring record for Brazil’s national football team with 77 goals. Many prolific scorers have retired over the last fifty years, but none of them managed to get even close to Pele’s record. But the Selecao’s present sensation, Neymar Jr., is getting inching closer to breaking the record. He is only 3 goals shy of equaling Pele’s record of most international goals for the Brazil national football team.
Top 10 goal scorers for Brazil’s national football team
Pele, a three-time World Cup winner and arguably the first global football superstar, has held the record for most goals scored for Brazil for nearly six decades. He has 77 goals in 92 international caps for Brazil’s senior side, with a sensational 0.84 average. Therefore, breaking Pele’s record will surely be a great achievement for Neymar Jr., who is only four goals away from setting a new record. Neymar has scored 74 goals in 120 international matches for Brazil’s national side since making his debut in the year 2010. Neymar’s 0.61 goal average is not as high as Pele’s, but it is still remarkable when compared to the stats of current players.
Three of the greatest Brazilian footballers, Ronaldo, Romario, and Zico, are in the third, fourth, and fifth spots, with 62, 56, and 48 goals, respectively. Here are the top ten goal scorers for Brazil’s national football team.
Top 10 goal scorers for Brazil’s national football team
Player Caps Goals Average
Pele 92 77 0.84
Neymar Jr 120 74 0.61
Ronaldo 98 62 0.63
Romario 70 56 0.79
Zico 71 48 0.68
Bebeto 75 39 0.52
Rivaldo 74 35 0.47
Jairzinho 81 33 0.41
Ronaldinho 97 33 0.34
Ademir 39 32 0.82
Tostao 54 32 0.59
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team#Top_goalscorers
Brazil’s national team’s upcoming international fixtures
The Brazil national football team will play at least one more friendly match prior to the Qatar World Cup 2022. The Selecao will play Tunisia in a scheduled international friendly on Wednesday (September 28). If Neymar Jr. scores a hat trick against Tunisia, he will shatter the record. If not, he will get a chance to break Pele’s record at the forthcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup group stage.
Brazil’s Group Phase fixture of the World Cup 2022
Date: November 25 | Match: Brazil vs Serbia | Time: 1 a.m. (Bangladesh Standard Time)
Date: November 28 | Match: Brazil vs Switzerland | Time: 10 p.m. (Bangladesh Standard Time)
Date: December 3 | Match: Cameron vs Brazil | Time: 1 a.m. (Bangladesh Standard Time)
Bottom Line
Records are made to be broken, and Neymar Jr. is moving closer to breaking Pele’s record for the most goals scored for Brazil. The current Brazilian superstar is in excellent shape and might break the record during the FIFA World Cup this year.
Source: United News of Bangladesh