Best Brazilian Footballers of 2021

Who are the

best Brazilian soccer players in 2021

? You might guess the top Brazilian footballer, Neymar, should be among them. Right! But what about the rest of the list? Also, we should say for the sake of our readers’ patience, we cover only ten of the best Brazilian soccer players in 2021, while there are still more of them like the great Brazilian goalkeeper of Liverpool, Alisson, who is not on our list of best Brazilian footballers of 2021 but deserves to - we only included one goalkeeper on the list.

It might be interesting for you to know that several players on our list of best Brazilian footballers of 2021 are also among the best Brazilian players in FIFA 21 which shows they have left quite a mark on the minds of the developers of the video game.

A List of Best Brazilian Footballers of 2021

Let’s see who the best Brazilian footballers of 2021 are. We’ll also let you know which of these footballers are among the best Brazilian players in FIFA 21.

Ederson (Goalkeeper)

Our choice of the goalkeeper among the

best Brazilian footballers of 2021

- although Alisson is also equally good, Ederson is the 28-year-old Brazilian goalkeeper of Manchester City who’s been serving the club since 2017. He actually joined the club for a then record transfer fee of £35 million becoming the most expensive goalkeeper ever in the history of football at the time. And in 2020-21 season he actually managed to collect 19 clean sheets in his 36 Premier League appearances which is a little bit more than one clean sheet (exactly 1.04) in every two appearances. He also managed to win Premier League Golden Glove in 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

is often known for his shot-stopping abilities, physical strength and reflexes, but he’s also good with the ball at his feet, in fact, to the extent that the former Manchester City goalkeeper, Shay Given, once described him as the best goalkeeper in the world with his feet. Ederson’s excellent distribution and range of passes has had the media call him the playmaker goalkeeper or even the outfield player in goal. According to some stats, most of the passes Ederson has sent from the back has led to good chances for his teammates. This is actually measured by a metric named xG chain that for Ederson is 10.41, the highest in the Premier League.

Casemiro (Defensive Midfielder)

Considered as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, Casemiro is a 29-year-old Brazilian footballer who’s been serving the top La Liga club, Real Madrid, since 2013 having made around 300 appearances for them up to this date (December 2021). He has won 14 club trophies including two La Liga titles in 2016-17 and 2019-20 seasons and three consecutive FIFA Club World Cup trophies from 2016 to 2018 with the Whites up until now. Casemiro was actually part of the Brazilian squad first-team in 2018 FIFA World Cup and with the same team he also won a Copa America in 2019.

Although not a very technical player, Casemiro is often known for his intelligence and physical play capable of creating balance in his team and supporting his team offenses from the back. But that does not mean he never gets forward. On the contrary, he can also start attacks from the back and take part in his team offenses. He’s also known for his powerful shots outside the box and that may be the reason the media call him the “ the destroyer” and even “the tank” - the latter actually by a Spanish sports newspaper called Marca.

Lucas Paqueta (Midfielder)

Maybe he’s not a big name on the list of best Brazilian footballers of 2021, but he has the potential to become one. Unfortunately, his time at Milan did not go well with him mostly because, as he said once, he tried to be the star of the show in every game he played for Milan and that put too much pressure on him and made him backfire with one goal and two assists in 37 appearances, however, in Lyon, it seems

has been reborn and on the right path under Rudi Garcia.

Neither with Milan nor with Lyon Paqueta has won a club trophy, but as we mentioned above, he has the potential; the same potential that has drawn praise from two top footballers, namely Ronaldinho and Neymar, who have predicted a bright future for the 24-year-old Brazilian boy. As he himself once stated, Paqueta likes to play in the midfield and as a playmaker. He has a tendency to act better in the final third of the field and more as an attacking midfielder, however, that doesn’t mean he has no defensive abilities. One interesting aspect of his defense is that he always tries to approach his opponents from their blind side and with intensity. That actually leaves them vulnerable at least for a moment enabling him to dispossess them easier or at least disrupt their run.

Richarlison (Forward)

Among the

Brazilian young football talents in 2021

, Richarlison is a 24-year-old Brazilian forward who’s been serving the Premier League club, Everton, since 2018. Richarlison has proved a promising forward since joining

, though he has not won yet a single club trophy with them. When he joined Everton in 2018, he was actually replacing some Everton’s forwards due to their poor form, and he proved that the replacement decision had not been a nonsense one: He became the club’s highest goal scorer in two consecutive seasons, namely the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, with 13 goals in 36 and 37 appearances, respectively, of course, jointly with Gylfi Sigurosson in the former and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the latter.

One of Richarlison’s strength points is his ability to work with other forwards to unlock complicated defenses and he usually succeeds in that. He often tries to find a shooting opportunity with his favored right foot, but the fact that he could convert only 26 of all his 177 shots in two seasons - less than 15% of all his shots - means that he needs to work on his shooting to improve it more. In attacking, he prefers forward runs to passing back; what is actually typical of many Brazilian forwards, and we should say he’s difficult to stop - another of his strength points. Richarlison is considered as an aerial threat to his opponents, too, and can make huge leaps in the air with great timing to convert crosses to goals.

Roberto Firmino (Forward)

He’s not only among the best Brazilian footballers of 2021 but also among the

best Brazilian players in FIFA 21

video game alongside his fellowmen, Casemiro, Ederson, and Neymar. He’s also older than the footballers we have already mentioned in this post - he’s 30 years old by now (December 2021). Well, we’re talking about Roberto Firmino, the Brazilian forward and attacking midfielder who’s been serving the top Premier League club, Liverpool, since 2015, and the winner of four club trophies including a Premier League and a UEFA Champions League title with the same club in 2019-20 and 2018-19 seasons, respectively.

played as a winger when he had just joined Liverpool, however, as time went on and his attacking abilities impressed the Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp, more and more, he was used as the German manager’s first-choice center forward - this has been actually since 2017-18 season. In fact, Klopp once described the 30-year-old Brazilian forward as the engine of his team which relentlessly works for the possession of the ball. Firmino is also known for his no-look goals; we mean he doesn’t look at the goal before shooting and he scores!

Gabriel Jesus (Forward)

Having been serving the top Premier League club, Manchester City, since 2017, Gabriel Jesus is another young footballer on the list of

best Brazilian footballers of 2021

. He’s only 24 years old and despite his young age he has won nine club trophies with Manchester City including three Premier League titles. We cannot call him a prolific goalscorer, although he has the potential to become one, but the 87 goals he has scored in his 210 appearances for Man City up to this date (December 2021) means that he has scored two goals in every 5 appearances for the top Premier League club. It should also be mentioned here that Jesus became Brazil’s highest goalscorer in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers with the 7 goals he scored for his country’s national team in the 10 appearances that he made for them in the competition.

As they say, Jesus is a master of dribbling and gets past the defenders easily with his zigzag moves. What is more important is that he knows when to dribble and when to let go of the ball. Furthermore, he’s capable of making quick dribbles in small spaces which leaves opposition defenders desperate putting more energy to stop him. Despite his young age, the 24-year-old Brazilian footballer has played in several roles such as attacking midfielder, winger and striker. As a winger, he has shown great capabilities in passing and finding teammates to pass to. In fact, he possesses a great awareness and feel of the game which empowers him to command his area.

Raphinha (Winger)

His appearances are very much like his fellowman, Richarlison, but they have different stories. It’s only one year since

has been playing in the Premier League and for the club, Leeds United, while for Richarlison, it’s three years. Taking a thorough look at his career up to this date, we cannot say Raphinha has been a very successful player. He has only two club trophies to his name, however, he has still a long way to go considering his young age (24), and that doesn’t mean the Brazilian winger has no potential to grow.

If you would like to know some about his stats, we should say to this date (December 2021), he has scored a total of 55 goals in 219 appearances which is around one goal in every four appearances. The share of Leeds United from all these goals and appearances have been 13 goals and 44 appearances. However, since he’s a winger, the number of goals he has scored is not a very good metric for his capabilities. Raphinha has great technical abilities and speed which makes him a hard target to stop for opposition defenders; he uses the same abilities to create room and goalscoring opportunities for his teammates, too. He’s an unpredictable player who uses his techniques to unbalance the opposition defense thus creating more attacking opportunities for his teammates.

Marquinhos (Defender)

One of the highly decorated footballers on the list of

best Brazilian footballers of 2021

- actually the second highest after Neymar, Marquinhos is a 27-year-old Brazilian defender who’s been serving the top Ligue 1 club, PSG, since 2013. He has won a total of 25 club trophies to this date (December 2021) including six Ligue 1 titles which is even higher than Neymar’s 24 club trophies - Neymar is actually in front of Marquinhos concerning all the club, international, and individual trophies. This might change, of course, in the future and we should wait and see which of these footballers reaps more rewards in the coming years.

One thing to mention about Marquinhos is that he was transferred to PSG in 2013 for a transfer fee of €31.4 million which was one of the highest among the under-20 players at the time - he was 19 then. They say,

copies his playstyle on that of Thiago Silva; whatever the truth, it is for sure that he benefits from playing alongside the 37-year-old Brazilian center back. Marquinhos often plays as a central defender, but he has also been deployed as a right back or even defensive midfielder in the case of former he becomes more aggressive with more attacking play. He’s a quick player with a good positional sense and a knack to win back balls. When having the ball, he could be good at imposing himself on the game by starting attacks from the back. And he’s a player with quick thinking and the least possible number of errors. It might be interesting for you to know that in 2013-14 season he only made three errors throughout the season.

Vinicius Junior (Winger)

The youngest player among the best Brazilian soccer players in 2021,

is a 21-year-old Brazilian winger who’s been serving the top La Liga club, Real Madrid, since 2018. Before anything else we should say that his transfer fee for joining Real Madrid in 2018 was €45 million which was a record among U18 Brazilian footballers at the time - we don’t know if the record is broken by now or not, but even if it’s broken, Vinicius Junior’s transfer fee remains one of the highest fees for a U18 Brazilian footballer. The ESPN journalist, Dermot Corrigan, describes Vinicius Junior as not being able to make his legs and feet move in unison! Yet, he corrects himself by saying that the 21-year-old Brazilian winger never gives up in any situtation which is a great quality of him.

Whatever the truth would be, there is no doubt that Vinicius Junior is a versatile player. Although he’s a winger and usually plays on the left flank, he can also be deployed in front center or even on the right flank. When facing defenders, Instead of ball manipulation, Vinicius often gets past them by sending the ball to their other side and sprinting toward the ball to retain possession. He has also a great awareness of space and how to use it and often wins the challenges with defenders through his sharp movements and technique, however, when one on one with a goalkeeper, he’s not talented or experienced enough to convert the ball and therefore cannot be considered as a good goalscorer, too.

Neymar (Forward)

King of kings doesn’t need introduction! He’s, as some believe, as big as

Brazilian football player legends

, and why not when he’s Brazil’s second top scorer of all time with 70 goals trailing only behind Pele with 77 goals; and consider that he’s still in the business and if he scores only 8 more goals he can even replace Pele on the list of Brazil top scorers of all time. Neymar, as we mentioned above, has won 24 club trophies to this date including two La Liga and three Ligue 1 titles - the former with Barcelona and the latter with PSG - and unlike Vinicius Junior who has only four individual awards to his name, Neymar has won a number of them including a La Liga Best World Player award in 2014-15 season and FIFA World Cup Bronze Boot in 2014.

Descirbed as a true phenomenon,

can play anywhere on the frontline and as a main or second striker, winger, or even attacking midfielder, and although a right-footed player, he’s capable of scoring with both his feet and, indeed, with his head. He’s not a player to stop his progress, and as he once said, there is always room for improvement. Having seen how promising a player he is, two former Brazilian stars, Ronaldo and Ronaldhinho, believe that Neymar could even turn into the best player in the world, and since a decisive figure on the pitch, Neymar is often the target of fouls, in fact to the extent that he became the most fouled player in Europe's top leagues in 2018.

And yes! He’s a prolific goalscorer both at international and club level: He has scored 70 goals in 116 appearances for the Brazilian national team - 3 goals in every 5 appearances - and 90 goals in 130 appearances for PSG up to this date - almost 3.5 goals in every 5 appearances - and finally with Barcelona he scored 105 goals in 186 appearances which translates to 2.8 goals in every 5 appearances. As you see, he’s got a better goal-to-appearance ratio after joining PSG.

READ MORE: