Neymar fires bizarre shot at mathematician after Brazil beat Japan to qualify for World Cup last 16

Neymar has fired a shot at a mathematician who predicted Brazil would be eliminated from the World Cup in the round of 32.

Brazil came from behind to beat Japan in Houston, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring a late winner and sending Selecao fans into raptures.

Kaishu Sano opened the scoring for Japan in the first half before Casemiro equalised with a header after a dire opening 45 minutes from the former Manchester United man.

Martinelli produced the heroics from the bench and set up a last 16 clash with the winner of Ivory Coast and Norway in New Jersey on Sunday.

After the game, Neymar broke his social media silence on the win but surprised fans by going after mathematician Joachim Klement.

On his official X account, the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain superstar wrote: "Mr. Joachim Klement… please try again at the next World Cup."

The post from Neymar racked up 2.8 million views and came after he was an unused substitute in the victory.

READ MORE: Mathematician who predicted last three World Cup winners names his 2026 pick

Ahead of the tournament, German Klement had correctly predicted Brazil would top Group C but then said that Japan would beat them.

Mathematician's World Cup prediction which prompted Neymar response

Klement's model and prediction involves every country's GDP per capita because of its link with the sporting infrastructure, as well as factoring in population size and football's standing in society in the each respective nation.

He also accounts for the most recent world rankings as another variable.

The recent world rankings are also taken into account.

Klement's predictions have been scarily accurate as he got the last three World Cup winners spot on.

He said Germany would go all the way in 2014 and then that France would be victors in Russia in 2018.

Finally, in 2022, he was right in predicting that Lionel Messi would finally lead Argentina to a World Cup triumph after they beat France on penalties.

This time around, he said that the Netherlands would become first time winners of the World Cup after losing in all three finals they reached.

He tipped the Dutch to beat Spain in the semi-finals and then defeat Portugal in the final in New Jersey on 19 July.

That exact route isn't possible as Spain and Portugal will play one another in the round of 16 if they get past Croatia and Austria respectively.

Klement also claimed that England would reach the semi-finals under his compatriot Thomas Tuchel.

"It's completely irrational," he told Der Spiegel, via ESPN, when asked about his predictions.

"It's like playing the lottery. I always say that if anyone places a bet based on my prediction of who will be the next world champion, they're beyond help.

"It's like tossing a coin. You might predict that the coin will land on heads four times in a row rather than tails, and that might well happen. But that doesn't guarantee it will happen again next time."

Neymar has played just 14 minutes in this year's World Cup, with Carlo Ancelotti revealing he decided against bringing him on against Japan as he "didn’t want to change the structure, because the team had control of the game"