“I tried, I tried. Now it's over. I started here, I'm done here,” Neymar said, recalling that he made his debut for Brazil in 2010 at the MetLife Stadium – where the clash against Norway was held.

The defeat resulted in the worst campaign by the Brazilian team since the 1990 World Cup.

If he does indeed retire from the national team, Neymar will end his career with 80 goals and 58 assists in 130 games.

His only title with Brazil's senior team was the Confederations Cup in 2023. He also won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, but as part of the under-23 team.

Neymar's nomination to the squad was controversial. The player is far from his best days on the pitch and was called up by coach Carlo Ancelotti despite an injury.

He missed the first two games in the group stage. In the last one, against Scotland, he started on the bench before coming on in the 76th minute. That was his first appearance for the national team since 2023.

Ancelotti said that Brazil deserved to win, but that the defeat is "the start of a new adventure."

“We have to keep improving, find new ideas, it's not the end, this defeat is the start of a new cycle,” he said in a news conference after the match.

Bruno Guimarães missed a penalty for Brazil in the 14th minute, which could have changed their fate in the competition.

Ancelotti was asked why Guimarães was in charge of the spot-kick and not Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr.

“Because we compiled statistics over the course of a year on both our players and our opponents. The best penalty taker is Neymar, followed by Igor Thiago, then Raphinha, then Bruno Guimarães, and then Gabriel Martinelli,” he said.

Neymar, Igor Thiago and Raphinha were not on the pitch when the penalty was awarded.

“We chose Bruno Guimarães because we thought he was the best on the pitch,” Ancelotti added.

-- BERNAMA-dpa