Former Brazil captain Cafu said Neymar’s international career should be remembered as a successful and honourable one after the forward retired from the national team following Brazil’s disappointing World Cup campaign this year.
Neymar, Brazil’s all-time leading scorer, said in late July that he no longer wanted to play for the national team, weeks after suggesting his international career had ended following Brazil’s last-16 defeat by Norway at the World Cup.
“The end of the cycle with the national team comes for everyone,” Cafu, Brazil’s most-capped player with 150 appearances, told Reuters on Tuesday.
“The most important thing is that his cycle was a successful one. He left his mark, he made history with Brazil in world football. His numbers for Brazil are incredible. His time with the national team was a very honourable one.”
The defeat by Norway marked Brazil’s earliest World Cup exit since 1990 and extended the five-times champions’ wait for a record-extending sixth world title.
Neymar, who played in four World Cups, scored 80 goals and provided 58 assists in 130 appearances for Brazil but won only one senior international trophy, the 2013 Confederations Cup.
Cafu, a World Cup winner in 1994 and 2002, said Brazil’s focus must now turn to the next generation under coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is beginning a rebuild aimed at the 2030 World Cup.
“I am fully convinced that 2030 will be completely different,” said Cafu, who played under Ancelotti at Italian side AC Milan.
“Brazil will have a chance and a real possibility of winning that World Cup. It’s a new cycle, a new project. Ancelotti will now have time to work and implement his tactical system.”
Ancelotti, who took charge in 2025 and was retained through the 2030 cycle after the World Cup exit, has used recent friendlies to test a host of new players. Nearly two-thirds of Brazil’s World Cup squad missed the team’s first post-tournament tour, where eight players made their international debuts.
Last week, the Italian named another experimental squad for November friendlies against Japan and Singapore, introducing five previously uncapped players.
“A rebuild is always valuable, especially when it comes to the Brazil national team,” Cafu said. “With these young players alongside the experienced ones, Brazil can develop the right chemistry.”