‘I’m living year to year now’: Neymar says he may retire by end of 2026

Santos, Brazil – Neymar’s storied career may be approaching its final chapter far sooner than anyone expected. Speaking to Brazilian online channel Caze on Friday, the 34-year-old forward admitted he could walk away from professional football as early as December 2026, declaring: “I’m living year to year now.”

The Brazil striker, who re-signed with boyhood club Santos last month after returning in January 2025, has become the club’s talisman during a relegation dogfight, scoring five goals in their last five matches to secure survival in the Campeonato Brasileiro. Yet the exhilaration of that escape has been tempered by a sobering reality: persistent injuries have left him uncertain about both his immediate future and his place at the upcoming World Cup.

“I don’t know what will happen from now on, I don’t know about next year,” Neymar said. “It may be that when December comes, I’ll want to retire.”

The forward, who recently underwent successful knee surgery, has not appeared for the national team since October 2023. With the 2026 World Cup set to kick off on 11 June across Canada, Mexico and the United States, Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti has repeatedly stressed that only fully fit players will make the final squad. That edict leaves Neymar’s participation in jeopardy.

Despite the clouds of uncertainty, Neymar underscored the magnitude of the months ahead. “This year is a very important year, not only for Santos, but also for the Brazilian national team, as it’s a World Cup year, and for me too.”

Neymar’s 79 international goals remain a national record, but the focus now shifts from milestones to moments. Each match, each training session, could be his last. For a player once heralded as the standard-bearer of Brazilian flair, the prospect of retirement at 35—or even sooner—feels both abrupt and inevitable.

As Santos prepares for a new season and Brazil fine-tunes its World Cup blueprint, Neymar’s introspection casts a long shadow. Year to year has become game to game, goal to goal. The countdown, it seems, has already begun.