Barcelona‘s Ballon d’Or hopeful Raphinha and Real Madrid icon Vinicius Junior play alongside one another for Brazil – but which of the two star players has a better record on the international stage?
Despite boasting two of European football’s biggest stars, Brazil have struggled in the attacking department amid Neymar’s injury struggles in recent years.
The Selecao suffered a disappointing quarter-final elimination at last summer’s Copa America, losing on penalties after a hard-fought goalless draw against Uruguay. Vinicius was suspended on that occasion, having picked up a pair of bookings in the group stages.
Their qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup has seen some bumps along the way, too. Back in 2023 they went four matches without winning, a 1-1 draw at home to Venezuela followed by successive defeats to Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina. Arsenal duo Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli were the only players who scored during that poor run.
Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer Neymar has recently returned to Santos and he’s made a promising start on his grand return to football as he targets a fairytale renaissance at the 2026 World Cup. However, another knock will keep the 33-year-old out of Brazil’s upcoming qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina.
That means that goalscoring responsibility will fall upon the shoulders of Vinicius and Raphinha, which hasn’t always worked out well for Brazil in recent years.
While he’s scored some hugely important goals for Real Madrid in the Champions League knockout stages – including in two final victories – Vini’s record on the international stage leaves a lot to be desired. The 24-year-old has only scored five goals for Brazil since he made his senior debut under Tite back in September 2019.
Raphinha is four years older and has taken a longer route to the top. He didn’t make his debut until he started to catch the eye in the Premier League for Leeds United back in 2021, two years after Vinicius.
This season he’s stepped up his game to another level for Barcelona and is currently the frontrunner for this year’s Ballon d’Or after consistently producing match-winning moments for Barcelona as they chase the treble.
It’s only been recently that Raphinha has started to be talked up in the same breath as Vinicius Junior, but he’s consistently outshone the Real Madrid star when it comes to Brazil. He’s made fewer appearances and has scored twice as many goals. He’s considerably more prolific when it comes to delivering goals and assists.
With 10 goals for Brazil, Raphinha is comfortably the top goalscorer in the current Brazil squad in the absence of Neymar.
Here’s how Vini Jr and Raphinha stack up against one another when it comes to their records for Brazil.
Vinicius Junior for Brazil
Appearances: 37 ⭐
Goals: 5
Assists: 5
Penalties: 1
Minutes per goal: 463
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 578
Minutes per goal or assist: 231
Raphinha for Brazil
Appearances: 31
Goals: 10 ⭐
Assists: 6
Penalties: 2 ⭐
Minutes per goal: 215 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 268 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 134 ⭐