Analysis— 5 min read
The party that began with John McGinn's deflected goal against Haiti has hit its most painful pause. Brazil beat Scotland 3-0 in Miami on June 24, ending Steve Clarke's side's hopes of advancing as group winners and throwing their tournament survival into the hands of other teams' results.
Scotland had a chance to become the first team since France to win their first two group matches and then progress from third place, but Vinicius Junior made sure it was not to be. The Real Madrid winger opened the scoring after just seven minutes when Scott McKenna lost the ball in his own area and Rayan laid it off for Vinicius to finish. He added a second just before half-time, with a tightly-taken effort that had already been ruled out once for a VAR foul on Jack Hendry.
Matheus Cunha added a third in the second half to complete a performance that showed the gap in class between the two sides — though Scotland had their moments and were not as passive as the scoreline suggests.
The lasting image of the night, however, was not a Scotland misfortune but a Brazilian arrival. Neymar came off the bench in the second half to make his first appearance of the 2026 World Cup, having been sidelined throughout the group stage with his calf injury. The crowd erupted. He touched the ball, held it up, and played two sharp passes in a 20-minute cameo that confirmed he is fit and ready for the knockout rounds.
Brazil advance to the round of 32 with seven points, level with Morocco who beat Haiti 4-2 in the simultaneous group match. Scotland finish third on three points and now join South Korea and a host of other third-placed sides in an agonising wait to discover whether their point total is enough to rank among the best eight third-placed finishers across all 16 groups.