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At least Neymar's World Cup career can end on a high note.The Brazil legend finished the Seleção's round of 16 match against Norway on Sunday, July 5 with a penalty kick. He stutter stepped and then struck the ball into the net in the 100th minute at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Even though Brazil was still down 2-1 with just a few minutes left in the match, Neymar went up to goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland to chirp a few words at his opponent.Erling Haaland scored both of Norway's goals. The Manchester City star has now scored seven times in this World Cup, his first time in the global tournament. His total is tied with Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot race.When the final whistle blew and Brazil was eliminated, Neymar, 34, knelt on the pitch and appeared to pray while holding back tears. His teammates came to console him as he sat down.It was a scene reminiscent of Brazil being knocked out of the 2022 World Cup. In that tournament, he suffered an ankle injury in group play and returned to score a goal in the knockout round and quarterfinals, where Brazil was eliminated by penalties. After the loss, Neymar sat on the pitch holding his knees staring down at the ground.He missed the first two games of this World Cup because he was nursing a calf injury. He came off the bench in the group play finale against Scotland. It was his first time playing for Seleção in three years, since October 2023.This was Neymar's fourth and possibly last World Cup. Before the tournament, there was talk that he might not have even made Brazil's 26-man roster because he was battling injuries and had a slow start with his club, Santos. His penalty kick was his ninth World Cup goal. He is Brazil's all-time leading scorer with 79 goals, two more than Pelé.
