Philadelphia, 20 June (H.S.):

Five-time world champions Brazil registered their first victory of the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a commanding 3-0 win over Haiti in a Group C encounter on Saturday. The result significantly boosted Brazil's hopes of reaching the knockout stage, while Haiti became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament.

Matheus Cunha starred for Brazil, scoring his first two FIFA World Cup goals, while Vinicius Junior produced an outstanding performance with one goal and two assists.

After being held to a disappointing 1-1 draw against Morocco in their opening match, Brazil looked far more composed, balanced and attacking throughout the contest against Haiti.

Brazil took the lead in the 23rd minute. Vinicius Junior cut inside from the left and unleashed a shot that Haiti's goalkeeper failed to gather cleanly. Matheus Cunha reacted quickest to the loose ball and tapped it into the net to hand Brazil a 1-0 advantage.

The South Americans doubled their lead in the 36th minute following a costly mistake by Haiti. Launching a swift counterattack, Vinicius Junior delivered an excellent pass to Cunha, who calmly finished to score his second goal of the match.

Brazil added a third goal in first-half stoppage time when Vinicius Junior found the back of the net. Controlling a long pass from Lucas Paquetá with great composure, he calmly slotted the ball past the advancing goalkeeper to cap an impressive first-half display.

Brazil, however, suffered a setback shortly after the second goal when winger Raphinha was forced off the field with an injury. No official update has yet been provided regarding the severity of the injury.

Haiti continued to fight in the second half and came close to pulling one back when Ricardo Adé's powerful header was brilliantly saved by Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, who denied Haiti their best scoring opportunity of the match.

The victory lifted Brazil to four points from two matches, moving them to the top of Group C on goal difference. Haiti, meanwhile, suffered their second consecutive defeat and became the first team to be knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar