MIAMI GARDENS, United States
Vinícius Júnior scored two goals — one of them practically into an empty net to open the scoring — and five-time World Cup champion Brazil beat Scotland 3-0 on Wednesday, advancing to the knockout stage as the Group C winner.
Vinícius — who has a goal in all three of Brazil’s group matches — scored in the seventh minute and again just before halftime, tying Norway’s Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé with of France with four goals, one behind Lionel Messi of Argentina.
Matheus Cunha also scored for the Seleção, who reached the knockout rounds for the 15th consecutive World Cup. Morocco finished second in the group and also advanced, rallying to beat Haiti 4-2.
After a lackluster 1-1 draw against Morocco in its opener, Brazil — facing pressure to win its first World Cup title since 2002 — followed with a 3-0 win over Haiti, and coach Carlo Ancelotti said he saw gradual improvement from his team during the group stage.
“We are working to play the best that we can,” he said. “But the goal is not to play well. We know that playing well is easier to win, but 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.”
Taking advantage of an early Scotland mistake on Wednesday, Vinícius received a pass from 19-year-old striker Rayan and took a quick touch to get by goalkeeper Angus Gunn for an easy finish and a 1-0 lead. He capitalized on another miscue by the Scots later in the first half with a header from close range.
“It’s always important to be scoring goals,” Vinícius said in Portuguese. “It’s important to be playing great matches, and I managed to do that. I was able to perform very well and improve. Throughout my years with the national team, there were times when I couldn’t quite show my true game.”
Neymar entered as a substitute in the 76th, making his debut after a right calf injury sidelined him for Brazil’s first two matches. The majority-Brazilian crowd at Hard Rock Stadium began chanting his name midway through the second half as he got off the bench and began doing warmup sprints on the sideline — and fans roared as he trotted onto the pitch.
“I think he deserved the opportunity to play, which is why I gave him the opportunity to play,” Ancelotti said through an interpreter. “I think he did well even though he played for just a few minutes.”
Neymar is Brazil’s career scoring leader with 79 goals in 130 international appearances. The 34-year-old forward appeared in each of the past three World Cups for Brazil, scoring eight goals.
Scotland is playing in its first World Cup since 1998 and has become one of the more interesting teams of the tournament. Its dedicated fans, known as the Tartan Army, brought a party atmosphere to the Boston and Miami areas ahead of their team’s matches.
Scotland hasn’t advanced past the group stage in nine tries.
“We knew they were a top side,” Scotland’s Nathan Patterson said. “They have massive threats. We were trying to nullify the threats — and obviously giving them easy goals is not what you need.”
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