After underperforming and underdelivering in their opening draw against Morocco, Brazil arrived in Philadelphia with a point to prove against a Haitian side that was unfortunate not to pick up a positive result against Scotland. Raphinha thought he had settled the Brazilian nerves when he fired home from Bruno Guimaraes’s scooped-through ball, only to be denied by the assistant’s raised flag.
Unfortunately for Haiti, the offside flag could not save them when Matheus Cunha opened the scoring midway through the first half, forcing the ball in despite Hannes Delcroix’s desperate attempts to clear, after Johny Placide parried Vinicius Junior’s driven shot.
Cunha, who was one of two Brazilian changes for this contest, soon added a second when he latched onto Vinícius’s well-weighted pass before blasting an emphatic effort at the near post into the roof of the net.
Buoyed by his assist, Vinícius put his own name on the scoresheet in the closing stages of the first period, but not before Raphinha was concerningly withdrawn due to injury.
The Real Madrid star raced in behind Haiti’s naively high backline and calmly guided a low shot beyond Placide, effectively sealing the win before the half-time whistle.
While a positive result was out of reach, Haiti posed a greater threat after the restart and so nearly pulled a goal back through Ricardo Ade, whose glancing header from a near-post corner forced Alisson Becker into a fine reaction stop.
Brazil ultimately did enough to record their first clean sheet of 2026, although they had to be content with a goalless second half after an offside flag curtailed Endrick’s celebrations for a neat finish under the goalkeeper.
Sitting level on four points with Morocco, Carlo Ancelotti’s side will look to confirm their place in the round of 32 when they face Scotland in their final group game in Miami on Wednesday, while Haiti know that even a win on matchday three would not be enough for knockout football.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Matheus Cunha (Brazil)