The Guardian's "The Knowledge" column tackles a reader's question prompted by Neymar's international retirement: is he the first player to bookend his national-team career by scoring both his first and last international goals at the same venue? Neymar's farewell was notable because his debut goal for Brazil in 2010 and his final goal in 2026 were both scored at MetLife Stadium, giving a neat symmetry to a 16-year career that matters as a curious statistical footnote to a major player's exit.

Neymar scored a header against the USA on his debut on 10 August 2010, aged 18, and 130 caps later netted a consolation penalty against Norway as Brazil went out of the World Cup in the last 16, before announcing his retirement. A search of RSSSF archives shows near-misses but no exact match: players such as Jared Borghetti, Pauli Jørgensen, Włodzimierz Lubański, Abe Lenstra and Zinédine Zidane scored on debut and farewell but at different cities, while the closest, Mexico's Enrique Borja, managed it in the same city but at two different stadiums. The column also answers separate reader queries, including why Japan, Australia and Germany play in colours that differ from their national flags.