Vinicius Junior scored his third and fourth goals of the tournament and Brazil cruised into the last 32 with a 3-0 Group C victory over Scotland on Wednesday night in Miami Gardens, Fla.
With the brace, Vinicius pulled even with Norway’s Erling Haaland and France’s Kylian Mbappe, one behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the World Cup scoring lead.
Matheus Cunha added his third goal of the competition for Brazil (2-1-0, 7 points), which finished atop the group on goal difference (6 vs. 3) after Morocco defeated Haiti 4-2 in the simultaneous Group C clash in Atlanta.
The victory sealed a 15th consecutive advancement from the group stage for the five-time World Cup champions. They’ll face the runner-up from Group F, which could be Japan, Netherlands or Sweden.
Scotland (1-0-2, 3 points) were held scoreless for a second consecutive match after beginning their tournament with a 1-0 win over Haiti. With a -4 goal differential, they will now wait on results in the remaining group games to determine whether they will snag one of the eight third-place finisher spots in the second round.
Scotland captain Andy Robertson departed at halftime, in what looked to be an injury substitution.
Known throughout the world for their stylish, attacking play, Brazil bested Scotland based on relentless pressing and physical defending.
On the first from Vinicius, Rayan appeared to catch the Scotland fullback Robertson off guard when he took the ball off him in his own half. The rest from there was easy, with Rayan providing the low pass for Vinicius’ simple tap-in.
On the second, it was Matheus Cunha’s defensive work that won Brazil the ball back in Scotland’s end. Eventually, it came to Bruno Guimaraes at the top corner of box, whose cross found Vinicius’ clever fading run to the back post for an open header.
After halftime, it was Guimares legally bodying Kenny McLean to take Casemiro’s well-placed throughball.
From there, he cleverly left the ball behind him for Cunha, who finished low inside the near post with goalkeeper Angus Gunn stranded.
–Field Level Media
