FULL TIME: Brazil 1-0 Switzerland
The whistle goes, and Brazil qualify for the knockout stage with a game to spare!
Casemiro’s late goal was enough to see off the Swiss and send Brazil through to the knockout stage
Updated
Mon 28 Nov 2022 13.22 EST
First published on Mon 28 Nov 2022 10.00 EST
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Louise Taylor was at Stadium 974. Her report has landed. Here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM.
… so did Brazil play like potential World Cup winners? Well, no. But also yes. No because they were pretty stodgy for the most part, until flinging the kitchen sink (as well as all the attackers on their bench) at Switzerland in desperation towards the end. Yes because while they weren’t anywhere near their best, they still scored a fine winner through Casemiro, and were an offside decision away from another lovely goal for Vinicius Jr. And it’s a hoary old trope for a reason: getting results when you’re not on top form is what champions do. Accordingly, they celebrate with their fans, while Switzerland – who fought hard but lacked a cutting edge – traipse off in disappointment. They’ll need to beat Serbia next week to guarantee qualification for the last 16.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Cameroon | 2 | -1 | 1 |
| 4 | Serbia | 2 | -2 | 1 |
FULL TIME: Brazil 1-0 Switzerland
The whistle goes, and Brazil qualify for the knockout stage with a game to spare!
90 min +5: Brazil are running down the clock deep in Swiss territory.
90 min +4: Rodrygo doesn’t take it to heart, and tees up Vinicius Jr on the edge of the Swiss box. Vinicius goes for the bottom left, but Akanji extends a leg to brilliantly block.
90 min +3: Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo launch a two-on-one counter. They should combine to score, but Vinicius Jr goes for goal when it would have been more sensible to roll across and tee up Rodrygo for a tap-in.
90 min +2: A curious lack of urgency from Switzerland. Ironically, the clock is not their friend right now.
90 min: There will be six minutes of additional time.
89 min: Xhaka loses concentration and the ball out on the Brazil right. His Arsenal team-mate then wins a free kick. Xhaka has the good grace to walk away wearing a wry smile.
87 min: Brazil want a second. Antony nearly gets the better of Rodriguez down the right; then Rodrygo hits a rising pearler goalwards from the left-hand corner of the box. Sommer tips away.
86 min: Switzerland replace Widmer with Frei, while Brazil replace Sandro with Telles.
84 min: Casemiro’s shot may have taken a light flick off Akanji’s backside, but it looked as though the ball was flying in anyway. It didn’t divert off its flight path much at all.
GOAL! Brazil 1-0 Switzerland (Casemiro 83)
Brazil had been knocking at the door, and now it swings open. And this one will count! Vinicius Jr rolls a cute pass down the inside-left channel. Casemiro, just inside the box, swivels and hits a first-time riser towards the top right. Sommer, feet planted, had no chance! That whistled into the corner!
81 min: Casemiro shapes to shoot from 25 yards. The ball’s deflected out for a corner on the right. Antony loops it in. Sommer punches clear, though not particularly convincingly. Guimaraes returns the ball immediately, but there’s little power in his header and Sommer can claim this time.
79 min: Antony takes it himself and curls towards the near post. Easy for Sommer. Brazil wasting a couple of good set-piece opportunities in short order.
78 min: Antony skedaddles down the right wing and is shoved out of play by Rodriguez. Free kick. Antony wants a booking and waves the imaginary card, which the referee ignores.
76 min: Rodrygo doesn’t stick the free kick into the mixer. He sticks it over the mixer. The ball sails harmlessly out for a goal kick, wasting everyone in the crowded box’s time.
75 min: Rodrygo is skittled over by Widmar near the touchline on the left flank. Before the free kick can be taken, Switzerland make two changes, replacing Embolo and Sow with Aebischer and Seferovic.
73 min: Two more changes for Brazil. Richarlison and Raphinha make way for Gabriel Jesus and Antony.
72 min: Casemiro slides a ball down the inside-right channel for Richarlison, who can’t quite spin Elvedi on the edge of the box. Sommer hacks clear.
70 min: Brazil are trying not to let that deflating experience sour their mood. They come back again at the Swiss, Vinicius tearing down the left and drawing a foul from Akanji, just outside the box. Nothing comes of the free kick, but Brazil are on top all of a sudden.
68 min: Ah, here we go. Richarlison had indeed wandered back from an offside position, getting involved with Embolo as the ball was shifted to Casemiro. The correct decision, but such a shame a goal that was so easy on the eye has been ruled out.
66 min: Well that’s disappointing. Richarlison came back from an offside position earlier in the move, though the folk in charge of the telly box haven’t deigned to show a replay of what went wrong.
NO GOAL! Brazil 0-0 Switzerland
Imperceptible offside earlier in the move!
GOAL! Brazil 1-0 Switzerland (Vinicius Jr 64)
… but after all that huff and puff, they suddenly blow Switzerland’s house down! Three Swiss midfielders miss a ball rolling through the centre circle. Rodrygo steals in and lays off to Casemiro, who immediately releases Vinicius Jr down the left. He’s clear! Widmer comes sliding in, but can’t stop the young Brazilian, who takes a touch to enter the box before steering cutely across Sommer and into the bottom right!
62 min: Brazil are doing a lot of huffing and puffing, and aren’t achieving very much. On that subject, here’s Ian Burch on that 1974 side: “Although Rivelino and Jairzinho were still knocking about, the team bore no relation to their predecessors of 1970. It was a team fully committed to getting their retaliation in first as they set about Scotland from the off in the group stage. They obviously knew nothing about Scotland’s team as they stirred up a hornets nest by singling out of all people Joe Jordan and Billy Bremner for special treatment. In their semi final match against the Dutch there were running battles on and off the ball from beginning to end, not quite Chelsea v Leeds 1970, but just as entertaining.” Ah, the 1970 FA Cup final replay!
60 min: Fernandes has the ball at his feet on the edge of the Brazil D. He should slip Embolo clear to the left, but lays off to Sow, who can’t get anything meaningful away. Some poor decision-making there, with Brazil light at the back.
59 min: … and then Switzerland swap out Vargas and Rieder for Steffen and Fernandes.
58 min: Brazil replace Fred with Bruno Guimaraes …
57 min: … so having said that, Vinicius Jr curls a lovely cross in from the left. The ball flies down the corridor of uncertainty, and is nearly converted at the far post, but Richarlison’s studs aren’t long enough. Missed by inches!
56 min: Brazil are a little bit rattled. Alisson faffs about with the ball at his feet and is closed down by Embolo. Alisson is fortunate that his kick rebounds off Embolo away from danger, and not back into the unguarded goal.
55 min: Vargas drops a shoulder to cut in from the left and has a dig. His shot is deflected out for a corner, from which nothing comes. But this is much better from the Swiss, who are beginning to bare some teeth.
53 min: Xhaka sends Rieder into acres of space down the right. He enters the box and crosses low for Reider, who can’t force home at the near post. The ball breaks to Sow who has a try. Vinicius Jr slides in to block. The closest Switzerland have come.
52 min: Fred miscontrols and cynically clips Sow, making off with the ball, to the floor. He joins Rieder in the book.
50 min: Rieder tries to block Rodrygo legally as he tricks his way down the left. But he only manages to stop his man by shouldering him in the face. Into the book he goes. Meanwhile here’s Mac Millings: “I don’t know about anyone else, but PENNANT WATCH!!! is popular with me, and I demand more of it. So much so, that I am here to help, with the latest installment: PENNANT WATCH!!!: Jermaine Pennant Edition!!! Jermaine Pennant thinks Arsenal won’t win the league, and Liverpool will finish 3rd.” Somebody had to do it, so it might as well have been Millings.
48 min: Militao shoves Vargas in the back in the playground style. Both hands placed on at speed. It’s been a quiet start to the half.
46 min: Vinicius Jr scrambles down the left and looks to have the beating of Widmer, but the flag pings up for offside.
Brazil get the second half underway. They’ve made an attacking substitution, replacing Lucas Paqueta with Rodrygo. “I watched the 1970 Brazil team as an 11 year old, spellbound,” begins Neil Jones. “Couldn’t wait to see them again in 74. There were Rivelino and Jairzinho, lost in a mob of European-aping enforcers. My disillusionment was capped by the scything Luis Pereira red card assault on the flying Neeskens, perhaps the only thing I remember of that team.”
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HALF TIME: Brazil 0-0 Switzerland
Well that was … distinctly average. The Swiss will be a little happier, I guess.
45 min +1: Embolo dribbles down the left and wins a corner. It’s flicked on by Akanji, but to little effect. Brazil clear.
45 min: There will be one added minute. Old school.
44 min: One corner leads to another, and there’s a quick game of pinball as Sommer punches an inswinger off his line back into a crowded box. But eventually the ball sails out for a goal kick.
43 min: Raphinha dribbles hard at Rodriguez down the right. He nearly finds Richarlison at the near post with a fiercely whipped cross, but Elvedi steps in to head out for a corner.
41 min: A long ball down the Brazil left. A footrace between Akanji and Richarlison. The former wins. “Adding Richarlison to the Xhaka powderkeg seems like a perfect recipe for some later shenanigans,” writes Joe Pearson. “I just love using the word shenanigans.” And we love you using it. A word that registers 9.2 on our patented Brouhaha-o-meter™.
39 min: Rodriguez powers down the left and whistles in a low cross. Vargas has his back to goal on the edge of the six-yard box, but traps and spins beautifully. However, before he can shoot, Thiago Silva gets in the road and ushers the ball back to Alisson. Lovely skill, though.
38 min: Militao has a whack from distance. The shot isn’t all that, but it’s deflected out for a corner. Brazil play it short, working room for Raphinha, who dinks a cross into the six-yard box. Sommer claims easily.
36 min: Paqueta momentarily falls asleep on the halfway line with the ball at his feet. Freuler nearly makes off with it. Sandro steps in to recover the situation. Kind of sums Brazil up so far.