World Cup 2022: Neymar Opens Up on Brazil’s Shock Exit From Qatar

• Neymar has broken his silence after Brazil's heartbreaking 2022 World Cup exit
• The PSG star says the loss to Croatia was the most painful of his career
• He hailed his teammates for their effort which unfortunately wasn't enough
• Neymar scored a superb goal for Brazil which matched Pele's record of 77

Neymar's sensational goal for Brazil against Croatia in the quarter-final of the 2022 World Cup was not enough for the five-time champions to progress.

The Croatians stunned the South American giants with a late equaliser and a stunning penalty shootout win.

Brazil were the pre-tournament favourites and showed that plenty of times in Qatar but against Croatia, there was a sense that jitters had crept into their minds.

Neymar scored late in the first half of extra time but Croatia striker Bruno Petkovic broke the hearts of all Brazilians by equalising four minutes from time.

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Croatia were dragged throughout the game by their midfield triumvirate led by the peerless Luka Modric, according to Sky Sports. In the penalty shootout, Dominik Livakovic delivered another masterclass to send Brazil home.

Neymar's reaction

Neymar was on course to lead Brazil to the semis for the first time since 2002 with his record-equaling goal. His superb effort saw him match Pele's record of 77, according to ESPN.

The PSG star will be 34 by the time the 2026 World Cup arrives. Therefore, this was probably his best chance of leading his country to their sixth triumph at the tournament.

After digesting a truly horrible night for him and his country, he took to Instagram to describe what he feels after last night's events. He said it was the most painful defeat of his career.

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"I'm psychologically destroyed. This was certainly the defeat that hurt me the most, which made me p@ralyzed for 10 minutes and right after I fell into non-stop crying. It's gonna hurt for a loooong time, unfortunately. We fought until the end."

Brazil manager Tite is set to leave his role as manager and there will be an inquiry about what went wrong. This was Brazil's best squad on paper in a long time but they once again fell short.

It remains to be seen whether Neymar will retire from national football.

Neymar heartbroken after Croatia's equaliser

Sports Brief earlier reported on Neymar going from ecstatic to tears after Croatia equalised against his team.

The opener for Tite's side sent Brazil and Neymar to cloud nine as It looked to be enough to send the Samba Boys to the last four of the competition.

Petkovic found the equalizer in the 116th minute to send the game to a penalty shootout.

Once the game was done, cameras panned to Neymar, who could not hold back his tears after the realization that his World Cup dream was quashed for another four years.