• His career as a professional footballer is over, says Roberto Assis • Brazilian won the World Cup, Champions League and Ballon d’Or

The Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho has retired from football, his brother and agent Roberto Assis has confirmed.

The 37-year-old, who also won the Champions League and Ballon d’Or in a glittering career, has not played for a professional team since leaving Fluminense in 2015. Last July, Ronaldinho said on the sidelines of a friendly in Chechnya that was he was “too old” to return to action.

Timeline Ronaldinho's glittering career Show Hide The Brazilian forward won the World Cup with Brazil, the Champions League with Barcelona and the 2005 Ballon d'Or and will be remembered as one of the 21st century's finest players Hometown hero Ronaldinho emerged as an 18-year-old with Grêmio, embarrassing World Cup winner Dunga in a state championship final with the tricks that would become his trademark. One month later, he scored six goals at the Confederations Cup Embarrassing England The World Cup triumph with Brazil in 2002 catapulted Ronaldinho onto the world stage. His long-range winner against England in the quarter-final that left David Seaman flapping at thin air. Ronaldinho claimed he had intended to shoot – but was aiming for the other corner Instant impact at Barcelona Ronaldinho returned to PSG after the World Cup but fell out with manager Luis Fernández. Barcelona intervened after David Beckham joined Real Madrid, swooping in a €30m deal. Ronaldinho joined a club down on its luck, but an audacious solo goal on his home debut gave a hint of what was to come. That goal against Chelsea The Brazilian's most memorable goal of all came in a game Barcelona lost, at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League. Standing on the edge of the box, his path to goal apparently blocked, Ronaldinho picked out the far corner in extraordinary fashion. It put Barca ahead on aggregate, but John Terry scored a late winner. The best in the world 2005 was perhaps the greatest year of Ronaldinho's career, capped by winning the Ballon d'Or in November. A week before, the Bernabéu had applauded him for his performance in the clásico. Barcelona were on their way to a second title and captured the 2005-06 Champions League, beating Arsenal 2-1 in the final. World Cup heartache Playing alongside Kaká, Adriano and Ronaldo in a 'magic quartet', Ronaldinho was expected to lead Brazil to a second straight World Cup but underperformed, failing to score as the defending champions crashed out to France in the quarter-finals Falling out of favour The next two years at Barcelona saw memorable moments including a bicycle kick against Villarreal, but both the club and player declined. Ronaldinho suffered injuries and lost focus and discipline. Barça president Joan Laporta showed Ronaldinho the door in May 2008, and he joined Milan while Barcelona's new coach, Pep Guardiola, built his team around academy graduate Lionel Messi. Back to Brazil After two and a half years at Milan, Ronaldinho returned to his homeland with Flamengo. Having been snubbed by Dunga for the 2010 World Cup, his impressive displays back in Brazil saw him make an unexpected international return, appearing at Wembley in a fixture to commemorate the FA's 150th anniversary

Roberto Assis confirmed the news of his brother’s decision in a column for the Brazilian media outlet O Globo and revealed plans for farewell tribute events after the 2018 World Cup – three years after Ronaldinho’s last club game.

“He has stopped, it is ended,” Assis said. “Let’s do something pretty big and nice after the Russia World Cup, probably in August. We will do various events in Brazil, Europe and Asia and, of course, we are arranging something with the Brazilian team as well.”

Ronaldinho’s versatility meant he excelled as an attacking midfielder, winger and forward throughout his career. He began with Grêmio in his home country, before moving to Europe with Paris Saint-Germain in 2001.

His performances alongside Ronaldo and Rivaldo at the 2002 World Cup drew interest from Europe’s elite clubs, and he joined Barcelona in 2003. His five-year spell at the Camp Nou was the pinnacle of his club career, where he won two league titles, the 2005 Ballon d’Or and the 2006 Champions League.

Golden Goal: Ronaldinho for Barcelona v Chelsea (2005) | Daniel Harris Read more

After a period of huge success, Ronaldinho reportedly lost focus at Barcelona and was sold to Milan as Pep Guardiola replaced Frank Rijkaard as manager. The playmaker also experienced disappointment on the international stage, disappointing at the 2006 World Cup and missing out on selection in 2010, despite a resurgence in form that helped Milan win the Serie A title in 2010-11.

Ronaldinho returned to Brazil at the end of that season, and wound down his club career at Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro and Fluminense, as well as a brief spell in Mexico with Querétaro. He earned the last of his 98 Brazil caps against Chile in April 2013.