Brazil football legend Cafu claims Neymar is ‘technically even better’ than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Neymar, 34, is back in Brazil playing for boyhood club Santos having been one of the standout players in Europe over the past decade.
The dynamic forward spent four successful years at Barcelona, scoring more than a goal every other game and winning eight major trophies, including the Champions League.
Neymar became the most expensive footballer in history when he completed a stunning £222m move to PSG in 2017.
The Brazilian continued to dazzle in the French capital, scoring 118 goals in 173 games and winning five league titles in six years.
Neymar’s natural decline and his current injury issues have made him a major doubt to be part of Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil’s squad for this summer’s World Cup.
But Cafu has urged Ancelotti to take Neymar to the United States if he is physically ‘ready’, claiming he is ‘technically even better’ than all-time greats Messi and Ronaldo.
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Neymar is Brazil’s all-time record goalscorer with 79 in 128 caps and is hoping to go to his fourth World Cup.
‘Any team that has a decisive player like Neymar needs that player,’ Cafu, who remains Brazil’s most-capped player with 142 appearances, told The Times.
‘If Neymar is in good shape – physically fit, tactically fit, technically fit – it’s obvious he’s a player who decides games. But only Ancelotti can decide and only Neymar can know if he’s ready.
‘For me, Neymar was technically even better than [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Lionel] Messi. He’s had a brilliant career.’
Ancelotti became the first foreign manager to take charge of the Brazil national team when he took over in May 2025.
‘I’m comfortable with it,’ Cafu said of the appointment. ‘Ancelotti is the most Brazilian Italian coach there has ever been because he has worked with so many Brazilian players.
‘Brazil has modernised. Most of the best Brazilian players are playing in Europe and Ancelotti is European, but that doesn’t mean Brazilian football is European football. The Brazilian essence will always be there.’
While Brazil are the most successful team in World Cup history with five titles, they have fallen short in the last five tournaments.
Rating Brazil’s chances ahead of this summer’s World Cup, Cafu added: ‘It can work well.
‘The first objective in a World Cup is not to concede goals and I don’t expect many surprises at this World Cup. One hundred per cent, Brazil has a chance.’
Brazil begin their World Cup campaign against African champions Morocco on June 13. They then face play Haiti and Scotland as they look to advance from Group C.
Brazil’s south American rivals Argentina are the World Cup holders having won their third title in Qatar in 2022, beating France on penalties in the final.
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