5 players we can’t believe have scored more international goals than Vinicius Junior
Vinicius Junior is arguably the best football player in the world and has proven he can produce moments of magic in the biggest games on the calendar, but his record for Brazil is still surprisingly poor.
Since making his senior debut for the Selecao in September 2019, Vinicius has been capped 35 times and scored just five goals, despite playing in a range of games including the World Cup, the Copa America, and a handful of friendlies and qualification ties.
For a man who’s already scored in two Champions League finals and lifted the trophy twice, and the bookmakers’ current favourite to win this year’s Ballon d’Or, this list of five players with more international goals than the 24-year-old will shock you.
Ben Brereton Diaz
In the time it’s taken Vini Jr to score five goals for Brazil, Brereton Diaz has become a cult hero in the Championship, switched allegiance from England to Chile, debuted for La Roja despite being born in Stoke-on-Trent, scored seven times in 35 caps and been dropped for not being good enough at Spanish.
Did you get all that?
Might be time for Vinicius to jump on Football Manager and see if he’s got any grandparents from Staffordshire, to try and pull an UNO reverse.
Ferran Torres
Torres’ move to Barcelona from Manchester City has been very hit and miss with him failing to set the world alight for La Blaugrana, but even with his struggles, he still has a better international firing rate than Vinicius Junior.
The 24-year-old actually boasts really healthy stats at international level, having scored 21 goals from 48 games for Spain and recently won Euro 2024 under Luis de la Fuente’s tutelage. That’s somehow over quadruple Vini’s Brazil tally, despite having made his international debut at a later date.
Wout Weghorst
The big Dutch forward couldn’t hit a barn door when playing in England for Burnley and Manchester United, scoring four times in total for the two clubs combined.
That record paints a (somewhat) false picture of Weghorst, however, who has been prolific elsewhere and has 13 goals in 41 games for the Netherlands.
It’s hardly a great record considering he’s a striker, but right now, it’s better than Vinicius Junior’s.
READ NEXT: Comparing Vinicius Junior’s Brazil stats to Neymar’s at the age of 23
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Raphinha
One that’ll seriously fry the circuit board in your head, Barcelona’s Raphinha has bagged seven goals for Brazil in just 27 caps, compared to Vini’s five in 35.
Considering Raphinha’s international debut came two years after and he only joined Barcelona after two seasons with Leeds United, this one feels wrong.
Raphinha was left out of Brazil’s last squad, despite having started 2024-25 in fine fettle with a first hat-trick for Barca. You imagine he’ll be back in the mix for their October qualifiers.
Harry Maguire
Oh, Vini…
Maguire is a very capable footballer and has proven it at the top level for club and country. In fact, his threat from set-pieces has been crucial to England at numerous tournaments in recent years. With seven goals from 64 caps, the defender is currently more prolific than the Brazilian forward at international level.
Ouch.