MIAMI GARDENS — Vinícius Júnior scored twice as Brazil defeated Scotland 3-0 on Wednesday to secure top spot in Group C and advance to the World Cup knockout stage.
The Real Madrid forward continued his impressive tournament by scoring in the seventh minute and again just before halftime, taking his tally to four goals in the competition and moving level with France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland, one goal behind Argentina captain Lionel Messi.
Matheus Cunha added Brazil’s third goal as the five-time world champions reached the knockout stage for the 15th consecutive World Cup.
Morocco joined Brazil in advancing from Group C after defeating Haiti 4-2 earlier in the day.
After opening the tournament with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Morocco, Brazil responded with consecutive 3-0 victories over Haiti and Scotland, with coach Carlo Ancelotti expressing satisfaction with his team’s progress.
“We are working to play the best that we can,” Ancelotti said. “But the goal is not to play well. The goal is to win. If we win the World Cup, we played well. If we don’t win the World Cup, we played really bad.”
Brazil took the lead after only seven minutes when Scotland lost possession in defense, allowing Vinícius to collect a pass from 19-year-old striker Rayan, round goalkeeper Angus Gunn and finish into an empty net.
The Brazilian star struck again shortly before halftime, heading home from close range after another Scottish defensive mistake.
“It’s always important to be scoring goals,” Vinícius said. “It’s important to be playing great matches, and I managed to do that. I was able to perform very well and improve.”
Cunha added a third goal after the break to seal another comfortable victory for the Seleção.
The match also marked the long-awaited return of Neymar, who made his first appearance of the tournament after recovering from a right calf injury. The 34-year-old forward entered as a substitute in the 76th minute to loud cheers from the Brazil supporters at Hard Rock Stadium.
“I think he deserved the opportunity to play,” Ancelotti said. “I think he did well even though he played for just a few minutes.”
Neymar, Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 79 international goals, had missed the team’s first two matches because of injury.
Scotland, appearing at its first World Cup since 1998, exits the tournament after failing to progress from the group stage for a ninth consecutive appearance.
“We knew they were a top side,” Scotland defender Nathan Patterson said. “We were trying to nullify the threats, and obviously giving them easy goals is not what you need.”
Source: Saudi Gazette