Cunha double and Vinicius goal give Brazil comfortable 3-0 win over Haiti at World Cup
Matheus Cunha struck twice and Vinicius Junior added a third, all before half-time, as Brazil beat Haiti 3-0 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to give Carlo Ancelotti's side a first victory and four points in World Cup Group 3.
First-half blitz decides the contest
After a sluggish opening, Brazil found the breakthrough in the 23rd minute. Bruno Guimaraes won possession and fed Raphinha, whose effort went just wide, but a minute later Vinicius Junior's shot was parried by goalkeeper Placide and Matheus Cunha tapped in the rebound. Cunha doubled the lead in the 36th minute, latching onto Vinicius's pass and firing a powerful left-footed shot into the roof of the net.
The Selecao sealed the result deep into first-half stoppage time. Lucas Paqueta received the ball with his back to goal, turned and threaded a pass behind the defence for Vinicius Junior to calmly slot past Placide and make it 3-0. Brazil headed into the break with the match effectively over.
- Matheus Cunha scores the opener for Brazil (1-0)
- Cunha strikes again from Vinicius pass (2-0)
- Raphinha injured, substituted by Ryan
- Vinicius Junior scores after Paqueta assist (3-0)
- Alisson saves Adé's header; Gabriel clears off the line
- Endrick goal disallowed for offside
Raphinha injury mars dominant display
Carlo Ancelotti's only concern came in the 39th minute when Raphinha signalled to the bench and was replaced by Ryan. The extent of the injury is yet to be confirmed. The winger had earlier seen a goal ruled out for offside in the 12th minute, one of two Brazilian efforts correctly disallowed by Spanish referee Alejandro Hernandez, the other being an Endrick strike in the 78th minute.
Brazil managed the second half without pushing for a wider margin, though Gabriel Martinelli struck the crossbar in the 68th minute after fine interplay between Vinicius and Guimaraes. At the other end, Alisson made a superb stop to deny a header from Haiti's Adé in the 64th minute, and Gabriel cleared off the line to preserve the clean sheet.
Group 3 standings tighten
The result moves Brazil to four points, level with Morocco who earlier beat Scotland 1-0. Scotland sit on three points and Haiti have zero after two defeats, officially eliminated from the tournament. The final round of group fixtures will see Brazil face Scotland while Morocco take on Haiti, with qualification for the last 32 at stake.
- Morocco
- 4 points
- Brazil
- 4 points
- Scotland
- 3 points
- Haiti
- 0 points
Haiti's brief resistance
Haiti, coached by Sebastien Migné, started brightly and competed physically, but could not sustain pressure. AEK Athens forward Frantzdy Pierrot started but was substituted at half-time. The Caribbean side nearly pulled a goal back when Adé's header from a corner was brilliantly saved by Alisson, but they rarely threatened otherwise.
