Neymar, Memphis and Silva – Brazilian football boasts growing list of World Cup stars

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37 and counting 

©IMAGO

The return of Neymar to Brazilian football sent shockwaves around the world of football for a number of reasons but perhaps one of the most interesting is how it has come at a time when bigger and bigger names in the sport have opted for a move to the Brazilian Championship. With the arrival of the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star, the 2025 Brasileirão will feature 38 athletes who have already played in a World Cup. However, rather than being a list of has-beens from Brazil’s past, it actually includes a number of players that once played for other illustrious nations, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal. 

When it comes to which club can lay claim to the highest number of World Cup contenders, Flamengo are comfortably ahead of the rest of the teams in the Brazilian top-flight. The red-and-black team has eight players who have already played in a World Cup: Alex Sandro, Arrascaeta, Danilo, Gonzalo Plata, Matias Viña, Nicolás de la Cruz, Pedro and Varela. Corinthians and São Paulo share second place, with four players. But the club with the most experienced World Cup player is none other than Fluminense, whose defender Thiago Silva has taken part in no less than four tournaments, amassing a total of 15 appearances for his nation. 

The second, unsurprisingly, is Neymar, who has played for Brazil in World Cup competitions on 13 occasions. The new Santos No.10 is also the player in the Brazilian top-flight with the most goals at a World Cup, having scored eight across the three tournaments he’s played at for Brazil. Not far behind the forward is Internacional goalscorer Enner Valencia, who has scored six goals from six appearances at World Cup competitions. In third place is a well-known name in Memphis Depay, who now calls Corinthians home after bagging three goals in nine World Cup games for the Netherlands across 2014 and 2022. 

However, the Brazilian top-flight’s list of World Cup players aren’t all players approaching the end of their career and across the 2025 Brasileirão are a number of players that will have their heart set on playing in future competitions for their national team. Whether that be Palmeiras and Uruguay winger Facundo Torres or Flamengo’s pairing of Ecuadorian winger Gonzalo Plata and Brazilian centre forward Pedro, the nation’s top-flight is far from a retirement home for former stars to see out their remaining days on the pitch. And in some instances it can lay claim to a number of players that could be stars of the next World Cup to come.