Can Neymar lead Brazil to victory at the World Cup in Qatar?

Neymar, the best Brazilian footballer of his generation, is heading into his third World Cup and is still the biggest star in a very talented squad, albeit this time with a supporting cast of exciting young players.

Vinicius Junior emerges as the one most likely to inherit the responsibility of leading Brazil, along with the likes of Rodrygo, Antony and Gabriel Martinelli.

The future will unfold without Tite, the head coach who will retire after Qatar, and perhaps without Neymar, who has been saying for months that it could be his last World Cup.

At 30, he is tired of the pressure and scrutiny that comes with carrying Brazilian hopes for a decade. He feels that there is too much criticism, especially with regard to his behavior off the field.

“It’s unfair to be Neymar,” he said in an interview with Globo Esporte in June.

“I’ve heard things in my career and I’ve heard things to this day that I look at and think are meaningless. I couldn’t get to the numbers I have without taking care of myself in my career, without training, without fighting to overcome it all.

“In that sense, unfair criticism hurts me a lot, because no one knows the reality of what I’m going through. Nobody knows about my day to day.’

Neymar has always felt hurt by his portrayal in the media. For years his lifestyle choices were the center of attention, especially when he was spotted partying at the Rio Carnival when he was injured. There have been high-profile inquiries into his tax affairs and his transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, although he has recently come under criticism for his politics.

“The day I don’t want to take care of myself anymore, I won’t play football anymore,” said Neymar. “People need to understand that my life is not what they imagine it to be. I’m here to break records, to make history in the national team. I have already built up a long history in the team and I want to finish it well.’

Look at his numbers and Neymar is one of the legends. He has 121 caps and 75 goals for Brazil, second only in the goalscoring list to Pele, who scored 77. In Qatar, chances are he will pass the man known to Brazilians simply as The King.

Tite’s team will start their campaign against Serbia tomorrow, followed by Switzerland and Cameroon in Group G.

The Pele comparisons have been present since Neymar emerged at Santos, the same club, and has been hailed by many as his natural successor. Over time, the challenge turned out to be bigger than the dream. Despite his brilliant career with Barcelona and PSG, Neymar has yet to win the Ballon d’Or. Even in recent years, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the twilight of their careers, he has failed to fill the void.

Pele won the World Cup as a teenager and three times at age 30. Neymar hasn’t really made an impact at the global jamboree yet. In 2014, when Brazil hosted and expectations were at their highest, he injured his back in a quarter-final against Colombia and was unable to play in the humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semi-final.

Four years later in Russia, he missed more than three months’ notice with a broken metatarsal bone, returned to action in warm-up friendlies and scored twice in the tournament, but could not manage a quarter-final defeat to Belgium not prevent.

This year, Neymar is going into the World Cup in better shape and there is reason to believe that Qatar could be a different story. He is physically fit and in good shape, with 15 goals in 20 appearances for PSG. Tite’s team is strong and well balanced, with a wealth of options, and went through qualifying undefeated. They are the bookmakers’ favorites to claim the title for the sixth time.

“I’m sure we have the potential to go far,” Neymar told Globo Esporte. “Although many people don’t trust us, we will show the difference. This team has a lot of talent, a lot of good things. I want to play this World Cup and commit myself to it.

“I’ll play like it’s my last. I play every game like it’s the last because I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I can’t guarantee I’ll play another one. I honestly don’t know. Maybe maybe not. It depends. There will be another coach and I don’t know if the coach will like me.’

In Brazil, this World Cup arrives with a different context. Politically, the country is deeply divided, which became evident in last month’s presidential election, when right-wing populist Jair Messias Bolsonaro, in office since 2018, lost to veteran socialist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by less than 2 percent of the vote.

The political divide has dominated everything and football has been dragged into the discussion with Bolsonaro using Brazil’s colors and the iconic yellow shirt at rallies and in promotional imagery.

His detractors claim the shirt has been tarnished by Bolsonaro’s anti-lockdown policies during Covid – which he said was “no more deadly than the flu” – the rapid deforestation of the Amazon delta under his rule and his ultra-conservative views, saying that women deserving of being paid less than men and that he would rather his child die than be gay. Some still refuse to wear the shirt and want to see Tite’s team play in blue.

The Brazilian FA (CBF), fearing a disconnection between the team and many fans, launched an advertising campaign in an attempt to reverse the damage. The players reportedly agreed not to show support for either candidate during the election. But Neymar openly supported Bolsonaro by recording videos and using his social media accounts to spread his messages to his millions of followers. He even promised to dedicate his first goal at the World Cup to Bolsonaro.

In return, Lula joked that Neymar was worried because if he won, he would know the details of the tax deal Neymar had with Bolsonaro. All this did not help the CBF to solve the shirt problem and enraged many Brazilian fans.

Can Neymar make all this go away by winning the World Cup? It will probably depend on his performance and his behavior. If he goes through with his promise to dedicate goals to the former president, he will alienate half the population.

But if he leads Brazil to their sixth world title, avoids political complications and helps heal the country through football, he can win the hearts of a nation and take his place in the pantheon of Brazil’s greatest footballers.

Neymar’s true legacy will be determined in Qatar.