Scotland 0-3 Brazil: Vinícius and Cunha put Scottish World Cup dreams in doubt | OneFootball

Scotland’s hopes of making the World Cup knockout stages for the first time in their history took a hit as Vinícius Júnior’s brace inspired Brazil to a 3-0 win at Miami Stadium.

The Real Madrid winger was gifted the opener by a disastrous mistake by Scott McKenna before his second was ruled out for a foul on his fellow defender Jack Hendrie, but headed home to double Brazil’s advantage on the stroke of half time.

Matheus Cunha slotted home number three on the hour mark to send the six-time winners through as Group C winners and put Scotland’s dreams of reaching the round of 32 as the third-placed team into serious doubt, by ending on -3 goal difference.

As it happened

Scotland’s game plan was out the window mere minutes in for the second game running when Scott McKenna – introduced in the place of Grant Hanley – gave the ball away inside his own penalty area with a risky pass out from the back.

Vinícius gobbled up the loose ball, ghosted past an off-guard Angus Gunn and slotted into an empty net to condemn Steve Clark’s men to the worst possible start to what was going to be an uphill battle from the offset.

The Tartan Army would then breathe a huge collective sigh of relief when VAR spotted contact from the Real Madrid superstar on the standing heel of Jack Hendrie, when he pinched the ball and slotted in number two with 20 minutes gone.

What was initially expected to be his fourth goal of the tournament was chalked off after a swift review.

Scotland did find a rare chance to level in the first half when John McGinn crossed into a horde of teammates who all contested for the same header inside the penalty area, and all missing the opportunity.

They survived a second scare when one of their defenders almost diverted a low ball across goal into his own net via a deflection off of the goalkeeper, who was left helpless when Vinícius headed in his second when Nathan Patterson dozed off at the back post.

It should have been three when Bournemouth winger Rayan beautifully controlled a ball over the top and find his way past Andy Robertson with ease, but Gunn made a brilliant one-on-one save to deny the 19-year-old a first World Cup goal.

Scott McTominay had the first real chance of the second half when half-time substitute Kieran Tierney – who raised eyebrows coming on to replce Robterson – picked him out with a decent cross, but the Napoli midfielder headed it straight at Alisson.

Gunn was called into action yet again with Vinícius on a hat-trick, racing into the penalty area and forcing the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper into a smart save with his feet as Scotland continued to live dangerously.

Cunha scored the third on the hour mark after Guimaraes was played through and outmuscled Kenny McLean, shifting the ball across to the Manchester United forward who made no mistake on the hour mark.

Gunn was in fine form despite that not ringing true for the defenders in front of him, making his fourth save of the evening on his mission to deny Vinícius a memorable World Cup hat-trick with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Neymar was greeted with a warm welcome by the Brazilian fans lining the stands upon his long-awaited return, featuring for the first time since suffering a serious injury in a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay in World Cup qualifying 368 days ago.

A consolation goal for Scotland would in fact have meant much more to their chances of making the round of 32, reducing their goal difference to -2, but McTominay put his shot straight at Alisson from no more than 10 yards out deep into added time.

Scotland will, at best, have to learn quickly from their mistakes to prepare for an historic first appearance in the World Cup knockout stages. At worst, their dreams of making such history just evaporated in a damaging 90 minutes of football in Miami.

Scotland analysis: Resistance crumbles with sloppy errors

James Bools, World Cup tactics correspondent

Scotland set up to stifle Brazil with a 4-4-1-1, hoping to mark Vinícius and his attacking teammates out of the game with two banks of four in both defence and midfield.

And at times, this approach worked well, with Carlo Ancelotti’s charges struggling to create much in the way of clear cut chances.

But unfortunately for the Tartan Army, silly individual errors let them down.

Scott McKenna was the main offender, with his heavy touch allowing Bournemouth’s Rayan to nick the ball and square for Vini Jr to pick his spot.

Jack Hendry, meanwhile, was fortunate to see a second from Vini Jr denied by VAR for a soft foul, after his dithering allowed the Real Madrid superstar to steal in and net a simple strike past the helpless Angus Gunn. Unlike his WWE namesake Joe few will be believing in him after that error.

And the less said about the defending for Brazil’s – and Vini Jr’s –  actual second, the better, with the Scots repeatedly failing to clear the ball in the final third before the ex-Flamengo forward was allowed a free header in the box.

Following that sucker punch the wall that Clarke built quickly came tumbling down. The Scots defence wilted, Brazil began to find gaps more frequently, and by the time Matheus Cunha netted his nation’s third it felt like an inevitability.

Having waited an arduous 28 years make their return to the World Cup, it’s now possible that Scotland will fall at the first hurdle for the ninth successive time at a major tournament.

Brazil analysis: Main man Vinícius continues to show his quality

Ollie Whitmore, Chief football news reporter

For all the criticism that Cristiano Ronaldo received after a subpar performance against DR Congo, claiming that he hadn’t earned the right to start again, no such problems have risen for Vinícius Júnior.

He started his campaign in perfect fashion and was there to rescue Brazil from the jaws of a surprise defeat to Morocco in their opening fixture with a trademark run and finish.

The 25-year-old turned up once again in a Brazil shirt, only this time it was made all too easy to score not once but twice against a deeply lackluster Scotland side.

That being said, Vini Jr still demonstrated the ruthlessness that other teams will benefit from imitating in the cut-throat environment of tournament football. Steve Clark’s men dared to attempt an intricate pass-and-go from inside their own box, and Brazil simply didn’t allow it.

Vinícius slotted it home, before taking full advantage of Nathan Patterson losing him at the back post to head home his second of the contest.

He looked more likely to complete his hat-trick than not to as the game reached its final stages, ending the night with the most shots, most dribbles completed, and most touches in the opposition penalty area.

Scotland, if anything, can count themselves fortunate that he didn’t, despite the precarious situation they already find themselves in.

So important to Brazil’s World Cup campaign so far, Vinícius became just the fifth player in their history to score in all three group stage matches.

The Real Madrid star will hope he can keep up his fine form in the knockout stages, where Brazil know they are now confirmed to be following another routine victory.

For more detailed reports, reaction, and analysis of the World Cup as it happens, head to our website and favourite our page on OneFootball.

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