It’s been more than fifty years since ‘The Black Pearl’ Pele has held the scoring record for Brazil's national football team with 77 goals. Many prolific scorers have retired over the last fifty years, but none of them managed to get even close to Pele’s record. But the Selecao’s present sensation, Neymar Jr., is getting inching closer to breaking the record. He is only 3 goals shy of equaling Pele’s record of most international goals for the Brazil national football team. Top 10 goal scorers for Brazil's national football team Pele, a three-time World Cup winner and arguably the first global football superstar, has held the record for most goals scored for Brazil for nearly six decades. He has 77 goals in 92 international caps for Brazil's senior side, with a sensational 0.84 average. Therefore, breaking Pele’s record will surely be a great achievement for Neymar Jr., who is only four goals away from setting a new record. Neymar has scored 74 goals in 120 international matches for Brazil's national side since making his debut in the year 2010. Neymar's 0.61 goal average is not as high as Pele's, but it is still remarkable when compared to the stats of current players. Read: Army announces Tk 1 crore reward for SAFF women champions Three of the greatest Brazilian footballers, Ronaldo, Romario, and Zico, are in the third, fourth, and fifth spots, with 62, 56, and 48 goals, respectively. Here are the top ten goal scorers for Brazil's national football team. Top 10 goal scorers for Brazil's national football team Player Caps Goals Average Pele 92 77 0.84 Neymar Jr 120 74 0.61 Ronaldo 98 62 0.63 Romario 70 56 0.79 Zico 71 48 0.68 Bebeto 75 39 0.52 Rivaldo 74 35 0.47 Jairzinho 81 33 0.41 Ronaldinho 97 33 0.34 Ademir 39 32 0.82 Tostao 54 32 0.59  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team#Top_goalscorers Brazil's national team’s upcoming international fixtures The Brazil national football team will play at least one more friendly match prior to the Qatar World Cup 2022. The Selecao will play Tunisia in a scheduled international friendly on Wednesday (September 28). If Neymar Jr. scores a hat trick against Tunisia, he will shatter the record. If not, he will get a chance to break Pele's record at the forthcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup group stage. Read: 14 important international football fixtures to watch before FIFA World Cup 2022 Brazil’s Group Phase fixture of the World Cup 2022 Date: November 25 | Match: Brazil vs Serbia | Time: 1 a.m. (Bangladesh Standard Time) Date: November 28 | Match: Brazil vs Switzerland | Time: 10 p.m. (Bangladesh Standard Time) Date: December 3 | Match: Cameron vs Brazil | Time: 1 a.m. (Bangladesh Standard Time)   Bottom Line Records are made to be broken, and Neymar Jr. is moving closer to breaking Pele's record for the most goals scored for Brazil. The current Brazilian superstar is in excellent shape and might break the record during the FIFA World Cup this year. Read: Will be “honoured” to play for Bangladesh football team: Hamza Choudhury

The FIFA World Cup 2022 will feature 32 teams from six continental confederations. There are still seventeen spots available after fifteen teams qualified till February 1, 2022. Two of the five possible spots have already been confirmed in the South American zone. The final two or three slots will be determined during the March international break. Let's have a look at the FIFA World Cup 2022 South American Qualification Scenarios with only two matches left for each country. Qatar World Cup 2022 Qualified Teams from CONMEBOL Two of the favorites, Brazil and Argentina, qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2022 last November. They are presently placed first and second respectively on the South American qualifying points table. Brazil have 39 points after 15 games, while Argentina have 35 points after the same number of matches. Both teams have three more qualifiers to play because a match between Brazil and Argentina was postponed in October 2021. However, the fate of that match has yet to be determined. FIFA may cancel the tie since both teams have already confirmed their participation in the mega event. Read Top Transfer Window Signings January 2022: Which Team Got Which Player? Brazil will face Chile at home on March 24, and they will face Bolivia away on March 29. Brazil will definitely finish first in the South American World Cup 2022 qualifying points table if they win these matches. However, depending on the results of Argentina's world cup games, they may finish second in the points table if they lose one match and draw the other. Brazil’s World Cup 2022 Qualifiers Performance So far Home Matches Results Away Matches Results Argentina Suspended Argentina 0-0 Ecuador 2-0 Ecuador 1-1 Uruguay 4-1 Uruguay 0-2 Peru 2-0 Peru 2-4 Chile March 24, 2022 (TBD) Chile 0-1 Colombia 1-0 Colombia 0-0 Bolivia 5-0 Bolivia March 29, 2022 (TBD) Paraguay 4-0 Paraguay 0-2 Venezuela 1-0 Venezuela 1-3  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CONMEBOL) On the other hand, Argentina will surely finish second in the points standings. However, their hopes of finishing first are entirely dependent on Brazil's performance in their remaining World Cup qualifiers. Argentina will overtake Brazil at the top of the points table if they win both of their remaining games and if Brazil lose four points in their final two games. Argentina will play Venezuela at home On March 24 and they will face Ecuador away on March 29. Read Five Famous Professional Football Players who Retired in 2021 Argentina’s World Cup 2022 Qualifiers Performance So far Home Matches Results Away Matches Results Brazil 0-0 Brazil Suspended Ecuador 1-0 Ecuador March 29, 2022 (TBD) Uruguay 3-0 Uruguay 0-1 Peru 1-0 Peru 0-2 Chile 1-1 Chile 1-2 Colombia 1-0 Colombia 2-2 Bolivia 3-0 Bolivia 1-2 Paraguay 1-1 Paraguay 0-0 Venezuela March 24, 2022 (TBD) Venezuela 1-3  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CONMEBOL) 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: South American Region scenarios Brazil and Argentina have maintained a substantial lead over the rest of the teams in the points standings. Argentina are 10 points ahead of Ecuador in third place. On the other hand, Venezuela are at the bottom of the standings with only ten points. The CONMEBOL region's four teams will automatically qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The fifth-placed team will compete in one inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup berth. Here are the team-by-team qualification scenarios for the South American region. Read The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2021: Robert Lewandowski Retains the Award Beating Lionel Messi Table: Team based qualification scenarios for the South American region Position Team Matches Points GD 1 Brazil 15 39 +27 2 Argentina 15 35 +16 3 Ecuador 16 25 +10 4 Uruguay 16 22 -3 5 Peru 16 21 -4 6 Chile 16 19 -1 7 Colombia 16 17 -3 8 Bolivia 16 15 -12 9 Paraguay 16 13 -14 10 Venezuela 16 10 -16  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(CONMEBOL) Ecuador Ecuador is in a stronger position than the other teams. They now have 25 points and just need one more win to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2022. They can even qualify if they just get one point from their remaining games. Read Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: Federico Valverde Scores Winning Goal for Los Blancos’ Remaining Fixtures: Paraguay (March 24, away), Argentina (March 29, home) Uruguay Uruguay has two difficult games ahead of them, and they must win at least one match to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Remaining Fixtures: Peru (March 24, away), Chile (March 29, home) Peru If Peru lose points against Uruguay, their fate might be decided in their final World Cup qualifier match. Peru might qualify for the World Cup if they gain three points, depending on the outcomes of the other qualifiers. Read BPL Football to begin on February 3 Remaining Fixtures: Uruguay (March 24, home), Paraguay (March 29, away) Chile and Colombia Both Chile and Colombia must win their remaining World Cup qualifying matches in order to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Chile will face Brazil on March 24 and Uruguay on March 29. On the other side, Colombia will face Bolivia on March 24 and Venezuela on March 29. Colombia have a higher chance than Chile based on the fixtures. Bolivia, Paraguay, and Venezuela Bolivia are still in contention for at least the inter-confederation playoffs with 15 points from 16 games. Oppositely, Paraguay and Venezuela have no chance of qualifying for the next World Cup. Read Favourite to Win the Best FIFA Men’s Player 2021 Award Verdict Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup 2022 from November 21 to December 18. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is generating a lot of buzzes. Because for the first time, a Middle Eastern country will organize a World Cup tournament. The competition will take place at six different venues in five different cities in Qatar. The teams who have already qualified for the 22nd World Cup have begun their preparations. On the other hand, many teams from six confederations are still battling for the final few spots. There are eight Latin American teams among them. However, Paraguay and Venezuela are already out of the qualification race. Six teams from the CONMEBOL zone are vying for third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively. Overall, football fans in South America will witness some exciting FIFA World Cup 2022 qualification matches in March.  Read Messi among 4 PSG players who test positive for COVID-19