Cunha and Vinicius Shine as Brazil Defeats Haiti to Top Group

[Anchor]

In the North and Central American World Cup, tournament favorite Brazil cruised to a victory over Haiti, moving to the top of their group. Forward Matheus Cunha scored twice, while Vinicius Jr. contributed a goal and an assist in a dominant performance.

Ha Seong-nyong reports.

[Reporter]

After a disappointing 1-1 draw against Morocco in their opening match, Brazil came out firing against Haiti, the weakest team in the group, from the very start.

Forward Matheus Cunha, making his first start of the tournament, was in sensational form.

In the 23rd minute, following a counterattack, Cunha pounced on a rebound from a Vinicius shot to tap in the opening goal.

Thirteen minutes later, Cunha and Vinicius combined again for a second goal. Vinicius threaded a pass through the defense, and Cunha fired a powerful left-footed shot into the net to secure his brace.

In first-half stoppage time, Vinicius took matters into his own hands. After receiving a long pass from Lucas Paqueta, he dribbled toward the goal and calmly finished with a right-footed strike.

Vinicius, who has now scored in two consecutive matches, was involved in all three goals during a brilliant first half.

Brazil continued to display their attacking prowess in the second half. Endrick found the back of the net in the 78th minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside, and the match ended in a 3-0 victory.

With one win and one draw, Brazil is now tied with Morocco on points but leads the group on goal difference. Morocco defeated Scotland 1-0 to also reach one win and one draw.

Ismael Saibari, who also scored against Brazil, netted a lightning-fast goal just 1 minute and 10 seconds into the match to secure the win for Morocco.

Meanwhile, host nation the United States defeated Australia 2-0 despite the absence of captain Christian Pulisic due to injury, securing their spot in the Round of 32 with two consecutive wins.

The U.S. took the lead following an own goal by Australia in the 11th minute, and Freeman added a header in the 43rd minute to delight the home crowd.

(Video Editing: Park Ki-deok)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.