Brazil secured first place in Group C with a convincing 3-0 win over Scotland, leaving the Scots’ hopes of advancing as one of the best third-place teams dependent on results elsewhere. On a night that marked Neymar’s first minutes for Brazil in three years, after coming on in the second half, the match belonged mainly to Vinícius Júnior, who scored twice. Matheus Cunha added the third goal.
The 25-year-old Real Madrid forward became only the fifth Brazilian to score in all three group-stage matches at a World Cup, joining Jairzinho in 1970, Romário in 1994, and Ronaldo and Rivaldo in 2002. In all four previous cases, Brazil went on to win the World Cup. Since Carlo Ancelotti took over as national team coach 13 months ago, Vinícius has also transformed his output for Brazil, scoring seven goals in 13 matches after managing only six in 39 games under previous coaches.
Ancelotti praised him, saying, "I am very happy. I never had any doubt about what he can do in this World Cup. He enjoys playing for the national team and he is doing a great job. He even scored with a header, but I am not the one who discovered Vinícius. He is one of the best players in the world." Neymar’s return in the 76th minute drew a huge ovation from the crowd.
The victory sent Brazil into the knockout stage, where it will face the Group F runner-up, likely Japan or the Netherlands, on Monday in Houston. After an underwhelming draw with Morocco in the opener, the five-time world champions recovered with wins over Haiti and Scotland, without conceding a goal and scoring six. Goalkeeper Alisson said, "Our goal was to qualify. We know we did not play well in the first game, but we improved. The defense was solid, we did not concede in the last two games, and we scored too. That gives us a lot of confidence. Now we need to keep improving."
