Who are the only two Brazilians to have won the Puskas Prize?

As the 2023 edition quickly approaches, a look back at the Brazilian players in the award history

Desmond Efe-Khaese

2023-09-24 10:25:24

Image Credits: © (FIFA on Instagram)

Since the creation of the FIFA Puskas Prize in 2009 that rewards the best goal of the season through a vote, 22 players have been rewarded.

Among these 22 players, we find Cristiano Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, James Rodriguez and others like Mohamed Salah. We also find two Brazilians, the only two to have won this trophy.

The only two standard bearers

For the first, we of course find Neymar with Santos and his masterpiece scored in 2011 against Flamengo, during the Ronaldinho era moreover. Not yet in his twenties, Neymar crossed the Mengao defense as if there was no one in front of him, carrying out a sequence of dribbles of which only he has the secret.
He then appeared on the podium twice, two consecutive years, in 2012 and 2013.

🇧🇷 Neymar and the goal Puskas 🔥pic.twitter.com/wBFJlgZmw6

— VAR Tático (@vartatico) July 17, 2023

For the second Brazilian winner of the Puskas, it was in 2015. Less known than his compatriot Neymar, we find Wendell Lira from Goianésia EC, who managed to score a scissors in motion, in perfect balance, as we rarely see.