Brazil brushes aside Scotland as Vinicius shines and Neymar returns

Brazil booked its place in the knockout phase at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a convincing 3-0 victory over Scotland on Wednesday, as Vinicius Junior scored twice and Neymar made his long-awaited return to the national team.

Carlo Ancelotti's side finished on top of Group C with seven points after producing another dominant display. A crowd of 64,478 fans filled the stands in Miami to watch Vinicius continue his outstanding tournament, before Neymar entered off the bench for his first appearance with the Selecao since October 2023.

Vinicius has now scored in all three group-stage matches, increasing his tally at the tournament to four goals. The 25-year-old forward moved into a tie with France's Kylian Mbappe and Norway's Erling Haaland for second place on the scoring chart.

"We played well, it was much like the match against Haiti. It was a more complete performance and we're pleased," Ancelotti said. "Now comes the best bit. There were lots of positives. We didn't concede a goal. Neymar's introduction is important and could help us a great deal."

Brazil needed only seven minutes to take control of the match. Scott McKenna failed to clear the ball, allowing Rayan to win possession before finding Vinicius, who rounded goalkeeper Angus Gunn with a composed touch and easily tapped into an empty net, giving the five-time champions an early lead.

Morocco also sealed a place in the round of 32 after overcoming a determined Haiti side 4-2, although the Atlas Lions had to battle from behind twice before wrapping up second place in Group C behind Brazil on goal difference.

Haiti got on the board first through an own goal before Achraf Hakimi leveled the match in the 39th minute. Wilson Isidor restored the advantage for the Grenadiers just before halftime, but Ismael Saibari responded almost immediately, scoring his third goal in as many World Cup appearances to send the two squads into halftime tied at 2-2.

The contest remained deadlocked until the 78th minute, when Moroccan substitute Soufiane Rahimi smashed home from close range after the Haitians failed to clear a corner. Deep into stoppage time, 20-year-old Gessime Yassine added a fourth to close out the victory, with VAR confirming that the ball stayed in play all the way through.

"It was a crazy game, too many goals, but we are really delighted to qualify for the next round and now we have to keep going," Hakimi said. "Haiti were already out of the competition, but showed great spirit and made us suffer, but in the end we did it."

The result sent Morocco into the knockout stage with seven points, matching Brazil's total but falling short of first place on goal difference. The Atlas Lions will face the winner of Group F – the Netherlands, Japan or Sweden – in the round of 32 on Monday.

"We'd have loved to top our group, but I don't think we played well enough to do so," Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said. "We had to go all out in the second half and had so many chances to score."

In Group A, Mexico beat the Czech Republic 3-0 to finish in first place, while South Africa edged the Republic of Korea 1-0 to rise to second. The ROK will have to wait for the results of the remaining group-stage matches to learn whether it did enough to reach the knockout phase as one of the best third-place squads.