Vínicius Júnior became the fifth Brazil player to score in all three of the team’s group games at a World Cup.
(Leonardo Fernandez – FIFA via Getty Images)
Brazil took advantage of some horrible Scotland turnovers in a 3-0 win to lock up Group C of the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday.
Scotland entered the game hoping to minimize the damage from a loss as much as possible if it couldn’t get an upset win or a draw. And damage minimization became paramount almost right away, when Rayan‘s pressure forced a Scott McKenna turnover deep in Scotland’s half and Vinícius Júnior scored in the seventh minute.
After Víni Jr. had a second goal called back for a foul after another awful Scotland defensive turnover, he officially scored his second in first-half added time when he headed home a cross at the back post to a wide-open net after Scotland turned the ball over in its penalty box once again.
Morocco entered Wednesday’s games tied with Brazil on four points and got a 4-2 win over Haiti. However, Brazil already had the advantage on goal differential and only extended that lead further.
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The teams combined for four first-half goals in Atlanta as Haiti twice took the lead before Morocco responded to tie. The first half slowed considerably, and Soufiane Rahimi scored the winner in the 78th minute.
Group C table, results
Saturday, June 13: Brazil 1, Morocco 1
Saturday, June 13: Scotland 1, Haiti 0
Friday, June 19: Scotland 0, Morocco 1
Friday, June 19: Brazil 3, Haiti 0
Wednesday, June 24: Brazil 3, Scotland 0
Wednesday, June 24: Morocco 4, Haiti 2
|
W |
D |
L |
GD |
GF |
TCS |
Pts. |
||
|
1 |
Brazil |
2 |
1 |
6 |
7 |
-5 |
7 |
|
|
2 |
Morocco |
2 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
-1 |
7 |
|
|
3 |
Scotland |
1 |
2 |
-3 |
1 |
-5 |
3 |
|
|
4 |
Haiti |
3 |
-6 |
2 |
-7 |
Who will Brazil, Morocco play in knockout round?
Brazil will begin the knockout rounds at NRG Stadium in Houston on June 29. The Brazilians will face the second-place team from Group F — either the Netherlands, Japan or Sweden.
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Morocco heads to Guadalupe, Mexico, on the same day and will face the winner of Group F. If Morocco wins, it will play a Round of 16 game on July 4 in Houston. Brazil would play its Round of 16 game on July 5 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Will Group C’s third-place team make knockout round?
This is why damage minimization was so important for Scotland. At three points and a minus-1 goal differential, Scotland would be all but assured a spot among the top eight third-place teams.
A minus-3 goal differential significantly complicates things. After Bosnia and Herzegovina moved to four points through three games, six third-place teams (including Scotland) had at least two points through two games and three others had one point. If Cape Verde and Belgium both tie or win and at least one of the four teams on one point win, Scotland could miss the knockout rounds.
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Can this group produce a World Cup winner?
Brazil may still have some questions in midfield, but its lethality in attack is why they’re one of the favorites to win the tournament. And rightly so. Víni Jr. is one of the most dangerous forwards in the world.
Brazil currently has 10-1 odds and ranks sixth among all teams to win the tournament. That feels about right. This team isn’t perfect, and Raphinha is sidelined because of a hamstring injury. But it’s very capable of making a deep run.
We’d also be remiss if we didn’t mention Morocco, who finished fourth at the World Cup in 2022. Morocco is highly unlikely to win the World Cup, but another run in the knockout rounds is not out of the question.
