Neymar was born in Mogi Das Cruzes, Brazil on February 5, 1992, in the southeast of the Sao Paulo state.  His father Neymar Santos Senior was a professional footballer and used to be his trainer. His mother’s name is Nadine da Silva. During his childhood, Neymar played street football as well as futsal. Playing futsal and street football with his friends helped him hone his skills as a footballer. Neymar started his youth career at the club Portuguesa Santista, where he played for about four years. Before moving to the Brazilian giant Santos FC at 11 years old, in 2003, he was the heartbeat of the Brazilian National Team and an unabashed superstar. He started to shine from there. His father, who had played professional football, helped him in taking the game seriously so that he could become a professional. His fame, to quantify, puts him in the top 10 of most followed accounts on Instagram at 107.4 million followers.  

Neymar loved to play futsal and street soccer from an early age which helped him get his skills to grow into the game of soccer. But Neymar was not born in the best of places. His parents were very poor and his dad had 3 jobs to make ends meet. They couldn't even afford electricity. There was even a time where Neymar almost died, when he was just four months old his dad crashed into a mountain side and Neymar was found on the side of the road thrown from the car but he escaped with minor injuries.  His family had to move in with his grandparents to save up money. They all crammed into one room and mattress. Neymar also had to go to one of the worst schools in the neighborhood since they were poor. Neymar didn't have it very easy, but his passion for the game showed him a way.  

  In 2014, Neymar started his own charity called Instituto Neymar Jr. (INJR), which is a “non-profit civil society organization dedicated to social causes and serving thousands of children, adolescents and their families, reaching 10,000 people affected by the work done.” The vision behind the organization is to create a space that nurtures youth through education and athletics. Neymar Sports, his namesake soccer school, donates 1% of its revenue to INJR. He made this since he went through the same problems. He has a  history of generous charitable work, supporting Waves for Water through his Neymar Jr. Project Institute, among other projects and causes. Waves for Water is a non-governmental organization that raises money to provide needy communities with clean water filters. Right now, they’re campaigning to raise money to bring clean water to thousands of people in poor areas of Brazil. “Through this campaign I hope we can touch people’s lives in a meaningful way and raise enough funds to bring safe, clean water to communities in need across my beloved Brazil,” Neymar Jr. said in a press release.