Romario believes Neymar is the best player in the world, ahead of Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi and Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Neymar has played a starring role for Brazil, scoring six goals in CONMEBOL qualifying to help the South American giants become the first nation to book a spot at next year's World Cup.

The 25-year-old has also been in good form for LaLiga titleholders Barca this season, netting 15 goals in all competitions as he bagged his 100th goal for the Spaniards last week.

And Brazilian icon Romario feels Neymar has surpassed Messi and Ronaldo, who have shared the past nine Ballon d'Or awards.

"Nowadays, Neymar is our [Brazil's] biggest star. He's the best player in the world right now, with all due respect to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo - which, particularly, I believe has been much inferior to the other two," he told ESPN.

"For what he's been doing both for Barca and Selecao, it's about time Neymar is elected the number one in the planet.

"We [Brazilians] put all our trust in a player like Neymar, he's the one that can give us in [the] Russia [World Cup]."

Neymar and Barca are back in action on Saturday, visiting Malaga as they look to close the gap on leaders Real Madrid.