Brazil's Matheus Cunha celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the World Cup Group C soccer against Haiti at the Philadelphia Stadium in Philadelphia, on Saturday (as per BST) — AP PHILADELPHIA, June 20 (Agencies): Matheus Cunha struck the back of the net and struck a pose, bringing scoring - and a dash of surfing - to the World Cup stage for Brazil.
Vinícius Júnior scored and assisted on one of Cunha's two goals as five-time champion Brazil eliminated Haiti from the World Cup with a 3-0 victory on Saturday (as per BST).
Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation that qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974, became the first team guaranteed not to reach the knockout round of the expanded 48-team tournament.
Ancelotti also said Neymar is expected to return from a right calf injury and play for Brazil next week against Scotland in its final group match. Neymar, Brazil's career scoring leader with 79 goals, missed the first two games.
The Manchester United standout got the start and showed with every surf-and-slide goal celebration why he should have been in the starting lineup in Brazil's listless 1-1 draw against Morocco. Ancelotti made the surprising decision in the opener to instead insert Cunha as a late substitute.
Cunha thrilled the Brazilian fans who made up the bulk of the 68,324 spectators at Lincoln Financial Field when he tapped in a rebound for his first career World Cup goal. He then sent a left-footed strike into the upper left corner for a 2-0 lead in the first half against the overmatched Haitians.
Vinícius, whose 32nd-minute goal helped Brazil earn the draw against Morocco, helped Brazil get on the board when his shot was stopped by goalkeeper Johny Placide and Cunha was there to slam home the rebound to make it 1-0. Cunha extended both arms as if trying to catch some tasty waves and was mobbed his teammates.
Vinícius slid a pass through the defense to find Cunha and he powered one high into the net that Placide never had a chance to stop to make it 2-0. Cunha slid on his stomach on the Kentucky bluegrass and mimicked a swimming motion that all but put Haiti in the drink - and validated the Brazilians' fans decision not to tempt fate and dress the Rocky statue outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art in team gear.
Vinícius closed the half with a goal and that was enough to keep Brazil - seeking its first World Cup title since 2002.
Meanwhile,Brazil and Germany remain the only nations to have scored more than 200 goals in World Cup history. Argentina are third on the list with 152 goals, followed by France (136) and Italy (128).Brazil moved back to the top of the FIFA World Cup's all-time scoring chart after a 3-0 victory over Haiti in Group C action on Friday (19 June). The five-time world champions began the 2026 World Cup as the tournament's highest-scoring nation, but briefly lost that position after Germany's 7-1 win over Curacao took their overall tally to 239 goals.
Brazil entered the Haiti match level on goals with Germany following a 1-1 draw against Morocco in their opening fixture.
However, a convincing win in Philadelphia saw Carlo Ancelotti's side reclaim sole possession of first place. Matheus Cunha scored twice, while Vinicius Junior added the third as Brazil increased their total World Cup goals to 241, two more than Germany's 239.
The result also lifted Brazil to the top of Group C on goal difference ahead of Morocco. Brazil will conclude their group-stage campaign against Scotland on 24 June in Miami.
Germany, meanwhile, face Ivory Coast in their next match.
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