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Brazil beat Haiti to pick up their first win of the 2026 World Cup in Group C.
Matheus Cunha marked his return to the starting XI with two first-half goals, the second of them a thumping finish. Vinicius Jr added Brazil's third on the stroke of half-time.
Substitute Endrick thought he had made it 4-0 only to be immediately denied by the assistant referee's flag. Raphinha, who had an early goal disallowed, went off injured in the 39th minute.
Haiti are the first team to be eliminated from this year's World Cup.
GO FURTHER
Brazil ease to win against Haiti. How much would Raphinha injury hurt them? Does Cunha have to start now?
Haiti will finish up 2026 World Cup play against Morocco in Atlanta at 6 p.m. ET.
Brazil will finish up their Group C play against Scotland at 6 p.m. ET in Miami on Wednesday, and though they will be favoured, Carlo Ancelotti is not sleeping on Steve Clarke’s squad which will be fighting for a chance to reach the knockout stage:
💬 “Yes, Neymar will be training tomorrow individually and then on Monday he will be training with the rest of the team. He will be available for the match against Scotland.”
I am not sure the Brazilian media have really bought into the Don Carlo project yet, and Ancelotti himself seems to be a bit miffed at having to keep explaining why he picked Thiago over Cunha against Morocco, brought Rayan on for Raphinha this evening and has not started Endrick yet. He is too clever and polished to lose his temper but he does not appear to be enjoying these endless what-ifs and why-nots.
Take a look at our snazzy graphic above to dive deeper on the battle for territory on the pitch at Lincoln Financial Field.
Matheus Cunha had two goals in his first career World Cup start. That puts him in, well, somewhat good company.
Two other Brazil players have done so since 1962 — Neymar, in 2014, and Richarlison, in 2022.
Kind of astounding when realizing one of those players is off this Brazil squad entirely and the other was a bit of a controversial selection.
Vinicius Junior has six goal involvements in six World Cup appearances (three goals, three assists).
Only three other Brazilians who have played more than five men's World Cup matches have an average of one goal contribution per match on record since 1966:
Two chances, two goals for Matheus Cunha on a night where he did his hopes of locking down Brazil's No. 9 position no harm at all.
His second goal was a particularly fun finish, thumping a left-footed effort into the top corner while off balance.
The Manchester United forward will surely start Brazil's final Group C game against Scotland.
Brazil have scored three or more goals in a World Cup match for the 41st time in their history.
As you might expect, that is a World Cup record.
They also have passed Germany in the all-time World Cup goal count, with 241 to the Germans’ 239 — though Germany have a chance to snatch that record right back when they play Ivory Coast tomorrow…
Haiti did create some chances, though none good enough to really threaten the outcome of this game. And as you can see on our stats dashboard, none of those chances were necessarily quality, either.
Casemiro really struggled in Brazil's opening game against Morocco, particularly in the first half, but looked more like himself this evening.
Granted, it was against Haiti but he looked a lot busier in midfield and kept up the game a lot better.
Only Gabriel and Marquinhos had more touches of the ball and played more passes than Casemiro, who was still snapping into challenges right until the end.
Carlo Ancelotti on hydration breaks:
💬 “I think it is right because we have a possibility for player recovery and you can also put some adjustments on the game. I think it is the right thing to do, especially during this period when it is really hot.”
Carlo Ancelotti has just confirmed that Brazil star Neymar will be preparing to play against Scotland after missing the first two games of the 2026 World Cup due to injury:
💬 “Yes, Neymar will be training tomorrow individually and then on Monday he will be training with the rest of the team. He will be available for the match against Scotland.”
Brazil mood check: my wife's uncle, on the big group chat, just called that “a terrible second-half performance.”
This is why the Brazil job ages coaches like no other. Pray for Carlo.
Brazil will be happy with that, especially after their horror display against Morocco. There was more balance, more composure, more combination play.
A lot of that is down to Carlo Ancelotti's team selection: Matheus Cunha is a much better fit for the rest of this side than Igor Thiago, who surely won't be starting another game at this World Cup.
Cunha, Vinicius Junior and Lucas Paqueta all played well. So did a couple of the subs.
The injury to Raphinha is one minor negative but otherwise a good night's work for the Selecao.
Brazil needed a comfortable victory tonight to stave off the critics after their 1-1 draw to Morocco in the tournament opener.
They got it, if only barely.
Brazil were fortunate to score the opening goal off the foot of Matheus Cunha. And though the second and third goals were lovely sights, Carlo Ancelotti’s side failed to find the back of the net after half-time.
There will still be questions about this team’s ability to go deep in the tournament after tonight.
Carlo Ancelotti:
💬 “This was a full match. Much better in the first half. The second half they had a little bit more control. All in all it was a good match. … I expected from this match to have a better quality. Less mistakes in attack, more control in the back. We have to use this group stage to prepare for knockouts.”
Asked if Matheus Cunha will remain in starting lineup, Carlo being Carlo simply said:
💬 “He may.”
Before the match, the Linc's parking lot felt like a boisterous joint party. Brazilian fans hoping to see Jogo Bonito once again and Haitian fans clamoring to get a glimpse of their side at a World Cup for the first time in decades.
After the match, Haiti's red and blue continued to wave in the stands behind the goal with a more muted celebration, but still one filled with pride — even if they are now officially the first country elimintated from the 2026 World Cup.
With Brazil’s win tonight, both they and Morocco now have a greater than 99 per cent chance of advancing to the Round of 32, per The Athletic’s projections.
We know for certain at least one of the five-time champions or 2022 semi-finalists will make it.
And barring a bizarre turn of events, both will be safely through to the knockouts for the second straight tournament.
Brazil now firmly in the driver’s seat with that three-goal advantage in goal difference over Morocco putting them top of Group C.
As you can see in our forecast below, Brazil have a 65 per cent chance of winning their group for the 12th consecutive World Cup.
Team Stats
BRA
HAI
Game Details