Day 14: Brazil and Switzerland Seal Top Spot, Canada Advance in Defeat

Two groups closed their doors on Day 14, and the final round did what final rounds do — rewarded the ruthless, punished the careless, and left a couple of brave underdogs heading home with their heads up. Brazil and Switzerland took top spot in Groups C and B; Morocco came from behind twice to win a six-goal tussle with Haiti; and the co-hosts Canada lost in Vancouver yet still reached the knockout stage for the first time in their men’s history. Earlier, before the marquee evening kicked in, Colombia ground out a 1-0 win over Congo DR to lock up a Round of 32 place with a game to spare.

It was a night for the young and the returning: an 18-year-old in Seattle, a Swiss wonderkid in Vancouver, and — under the Miami lights — a record-equalling Brazilian and a No. 10 walking back onto the stage after nearly three years away. Here’s the whole day, live scores and all.

Scotland 0-3 Brazil: Vinícius makes history, Neymar makes his return

Brazil needed a point to be sure of top spot; they took three and a slice of history with them. Vinícius Júnior was in front after seven minutes, pouncing when Scott McKenna failed to clear and Rayan robbed possession to tee him up for a tap into an empty net. He thought he had a second on 22 minutes, only for VAR to chalk it off for a foul — Scotland’s solitary reprieve of the evening.

The lead doubled in first-half stoppage time, Bruno Guimarães floating one to the back post for Vinícius to head home, and Matheus Cunha added the third just after the hour with Guimarães again the provider. (The match page logs Vinícius’s brace; BBC Sport, Al Jazeera and FotMob credit Cunha with the 60th-minute third.) The expected-goals line — 2.14 to Scotland’s 0.08 — tells you how lopsided it was.

The numbers around Vinícius are the story. BBC Sport noted he became only the fifth Brazilian to score in all three group games of a single World Cup, after Jairzinho, Romário, Ronaldo and Rivaldo; Opta, via Al Jazeera, pointed out he now has five World Cup goals for Brazil — level with Romário, Zico and Garrincha. And the biggest roar of the night, per Al Jazeera, was for Neymar, sent on by Carlo Ancelotti for his first appearance in a Brazil shirt in 980 days, since October 2023.

“We’ve achieved our first objective, but we have to keep going,” captain Marquinhos told the host broadcaster, as quoted by Al Jazeera. “It’s like the Champions League — there’s no point finishing top of your group if you’re not ready afterwards.” For Scotland, gutting. “Gave up goals at poor times to a team that can punish you with quality,” John McGinn told the same broadcaster. “We just have to wait now.” A crowd of 64,478 at Hard Rock Stadium saw Brazil go through as group winners; Scotland, third on three points, are left sweating on a best-third-placed spot.

Morocco 4-2 Haiti: a comeback, twice over, settled by the bench

If Brazil’s win was a procession, Morocco’s was a scrap they had to win twice. Haiti, ranked 87th and the lowest-rated side in the tournament — a team that played its “home” qualifiers in Curaçao because of gang violence back in Port-au-Prince, as Yahoo Sports detailed — stunned Atlanta inside ten minutes when Lenny Joseph’s flick deflected in off Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou for an own goal.

Achraf Hakimi levelled on 39 minutes after Johny Placide spilled a Brahim Díaz strike, but Wilson Isidor restored Haiti’s lead on 43, finishing a Jean-Kévin Duverne assist. That made Isidor only the second Haitian ever to score at a World Cup — after Emmanuel Sanon in 1974, per BBC Sport — and gave Haiti their first World Cup goals in 52 years. Morocco needed until first-half stoppage time to draw level again, Ismael Saïbari converting Hakimi’s pass for 2-2.

The second half belonged to Mohamed Ouahbi’s substitutes. Soufiane Rahimi, on at the break of the hour, lashed in the go-ahead goal on 78 minutes, and Gessime Yassine — another sub — made it 4-2 in the 89th from Rahimi’s assist, after a lengthy VAR check confirmed the ball had stayed in. Hakimi, with a goal and an assist, was BBC Sport’s player of the match. “We all hoped to bring joy to the Haitian people, because they deserve it,” Isidor said afterward, quoted by Yahoo Sports. “I hope the two goals we scored today made them proud.” Morocco finish second and, per BBC Sport, head to Estadio Monterrey on 30 June; Haiti, in their first-ever meeting with Morocco, go home pointless but unbowed.

Switzerland 2-1 Canada: the hosts lose the battle, win the war

In Vancouver, Switzerland flipped a tight first half with two goals in twelve second-half minutes. Rubén Vargas finished off a Johan Manzambi cross 40 seconds after the restart, and Manzambi — the young attacker who has lit up this Swiss campaign — drilled in the second on 57, with Breel Embolo involved in the build-up.

Canada threw on three at once and got a lifeline that felt scripted: substitute Promise David — not to be confused with star striker Jonathan David, who started but had a quiet evening — scored with his very first touch on 76 minutes, two minutes after coming on for Tajon Buchanan, converting Nathan Saliba’s delivery. BC Place, a 52,497 sell-out, sensed an equaliser, but it never came; Switzerland’s goalkeeper stood firm through a late siege under referee Ramon Abatti.

The sting in the tale is geography. Jesse Marsch had been clear before kickoff that “staying here in Vancouver is definitely our number one goal,” he told TSN — yet by finishing second, Canada surrender home advantage and, per Sportsnet and FIFA, travel to Los Angeles for a Round of 32 tie on 28 June. It is, nonetheless, the first time the Canadian men have ever reached the World Cup knockout rounds. Switzerland top the group and stay put, hosting a third-placed side at BC Place on 2 July.

Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-1 Qatar: an 18-year-old announces himself

Only Bosnia’s second World Cup, and a teenager gave it a headline. Kerim Alajbegović, the 18-year-old Bayer Leverkusen forward, drifted past two defenders and fired Bosnia ahead on 29 minutes from Ivan Bašić’s pass. FIFA recorded it as the youngest goal ever scored from outside the box at a World Cup, at 18 years and 276 days; ESPN ranked him the eighth-youngest scorer in the tournament’s history.

Edin Džeko — winning his 150th cap, and still his country’s record scorer and most-capped player, as BBC Sport noted — engineered the second, his 34th-minute delivery turned into Qatar’s own net to make it 2-0. Hassan Al-Haydos pulled one back on 42 from Edmilson Junior’s cross, but Bosnia’s depth told. Ermin Mahmić, on for Džeko just past the hour, slotted the third on 80 minutes — his goal in a second successive game — to settle a contest Bosnia shaded with 14 shots to seven and 56% of the ball, in 29-degree heat at Seattle’s Lumen Field.

“Form can beat quality sometimes,” coach Sergej Barbarez had said pre-match, per Reuters — and his side backed it up. Third on four points, Bosnia now wait to see whether they sneak through among the best third-placed teams. Qatar, beaten in all three and without a win, are out.

Colombia 1-0 Congo DR: Muñoz settles a goalkeeping masterclass

The day actually opened in Guadalajara, where Colombia battered Congo DR for 76 minutes and were nearly denied by one man. Lionel Mpasi was extraordinary — six saves, five of them inside the first 20 minutes, which Sky Sports framed as the most in that window of a World Cup game since Jamaica’s Warren Barrett against Argentina at France ‘98.

Néstor Lorenzo shuffled his pack, and it was the bench that found the crack: Jhon Córdoba’s hold-up play and a pass from Juan Fernando Quintero — on at 58 for James Rodríguez — released right-back Daniel Muñoz, whose deflected finish finally beat Mpasi. Colombia had goals from Luis Díaz disallowed either side of it, and Camilo Vargas had to deny Nathanaël Mbuku and Chancel Mbemba late to preserve the clean sheet. Muñoz, with his second of the tournament, took the official award; Rodríguez, withdrawn for Quintero, was making his 10th World Cup appearance — drawing him level with Colombian greats Freddy Rincón and Carlos Valderrama, per the Associated Press.

“We played with intensity and aggression, and we stuck to our style,” Muñoz told AP. “We don’t want to settle for this.” Lorenzo agreed his side “were the deserved winners.” Congo DR — back at a World Cup for the first time in 52 years, since their 1974 appearance as Zaire — can still progress: “We must recognise that Colombia is superior,” coach Sébastien Desabre told AP, “but… now we have a decisive match ahead of us.” Colombia, on six points from two games, are through and lead Group K.

Standings and what’s next

Two groups are settled. In Group C, Brazil finished top on seven points (+6), edging Morocco — also on seven — on goal difference; Scotland (three) and Haiti (out, zero) fill the bottom two. In Group B, Switzerland topped it on seven, with Canada second on four (+5) ahead of Bosnia (four, −1) and Qatar (one). Canada and Switzerland are through; Bosnia and Scotland join the queue of third-placed sides hoping to be among the eight that advance. Haiti and Qatar are eliminated.

Group K still has business: Colombia (six points) are safely into the last 32, but Portugal (four), Congo DR (one) and Uzbekistan (zero) have a final round to play, and second place — plus Congo DR’s slim hopes — remain live. Keep an eye on the group tables and the full schedule as the knockout picture sharpens: Canada are bound for Los Angeles on 28 June, Morocco for Monterrey on 30 June, and Switzerland host at BC Place on 2 July. The real competition, as Marquinhos put it, is only just beginning.