Short answer: No. Neymar da Silva Santos Junior is a documented, publicly practicing Christian, raised at Peniel Baptist Church in Sao Paulo, and no reputable source documents Jewish ancestry on either side of his family. The question comes almost entirely from photographs of him wearing a kippah at the Western Wall during a 2013 Barcelona team visit.
What the record actually shows
- Family and birth: He was born February 5, 1992, in Mogi das Cruzes, in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, the son of Neymar da Silva Santos Sr., a former footballer who manages his career, and Nadine Goncalves da Silva Santos. No reputable outlet has reported Jewish ancestry on either side.
- Church: He grew up at Peniel Baptist Church in Sao Paulo, and his pastor Newton Lobato has said Neymar tithes roughly 18,000 euros a year, as The Irish Catholic reported.
- Independent confirmation: Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Christianity Today named the same Sao Paulo church, reported the tithing, and noted that he made the white "100% Jesus" headband famous and still reserves it for special celebrations.
- His own words: Premier Christianity has quoted him on record saying, "Life only makes sense when our highest ideal is to serve Christ." (source)
- Contract clause: His PSG contract, leaked by the Spanish outlet El Mundo in September 2021, contained an ethics clause restricting political or religious propaganda, per The Irish Catholic's account of the leak.
- No Jewish practice on record: There is no documented synagogue attendance, no conversion, no Jewish family member, and no reputable outlet has ever reported a claim that Neymar is Jewish.
- Where he is now: On July 5, 2026, after Brazil lost 2-1 to Norway in the Round of 16 at MetLife Stadium, he ended his international career with 80 goals in 130 appearances, saying, "I tried, I tried. Now, it's over. I started here; I finished here." (ESPN)
Why people ask
The question traces to one image. On August 4, 2013, as a new Barcelona player, Neymar joined the squad's trip to Israel. On the Sunday morning the players visited the Western Wall, put on skullcaps and posed for a group photo with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, placed notes in the wall and held a brief prayer, and the squad also met President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Ynet reported at the time. Ynet described Neymar as appearing confused and shocked at the commotion around him. Photos of the world's most famous footballer in a kippah at the Kotel have circulated ever since, usually stripped of that context.
A second driver is business, not belief. The Israeli super-agent Pini Zahavi brokered Neymar's 222 million euro transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, announced in early August 2017, and was reported to share a 38 million euro fee with Neymar's father, according to The Times of Israel. An Israeli agent and a photo in a kippah are not evidence of Jewish ancestry, and nothing in the record supports that reading.
Neymar Jr and Israel
He has three documented touchpoints with Israel, all of them before October 2023. Beyond the 2013 Barcelona visit, videos posted on April 2, 2019 showed Netanyahu and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at the Western Wall inviting Neymar and surfer Gabriel Medina to visit, with Netanyahu inviting both athletes to Israel and telling them Jerusalem was waiting for them. Neymar replied, "Hello Bibi and Bolsonaro. Thanks for inviting us. Israel, we are coming," which drew backlash in Brazil from critics who read it as an endorsement of Netanyahu days before an Israeli election (Times of Israel, Haaretz). He did come: he landed in Tel Aviv with PSG on the evening of Friday, July 29, 2022, staying at the Tel Aviv Hilton alongside Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos (The Jerusalem Post), and PSG played FC Nantes for the Trophee des Champions at Bloomfield Stadium on Sunday, July 31, 2022, winning 4-0 (JNS). Full details in our companion piece Does Neymar Jr Support Israel?.
The bottom line
Neymar Jr is not Jewish. He is a practicing Christian who grew up in a Baptist church in Sao Paulo, speaks about his faith openly, and has no documented Jewish parentage on either side. The kippah photos that fuel the question come from a single team visit to the Western Wall in 2013.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
