Brazil Find Their Rhythm at Last in Philadelphia

For long stretches of a warm afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field, Brazil looked like a side still searching for its shape. Haiti, compact and unhurried, refused to hand over the space that Brazil's forwards craved, and the opening half hour passed with more probing than penetration. The breakthrough, when it came, owed as much to Haitian fatigue as to Brazilian invention.

Once the first goal arrived, however, the afternoon shifted decisively. Brazil grew in confidence, moving the ball with the fluency that had eluded them in their opening fixture, and Haiti found the gaps they had guarded so diligently beginning to widen. The second goal followed a passage of sustained pressure, and by then the outcome felt settled rather than contested.

Haiti, to their credit, never collapsed. They held their defensive line as long as their legs allowed and threatened on the counter often enough to remind Brazil that complacency carried a price. But the third goal, arriving in the closing stages, removed any lingering doubt and allowed Brazil to see out the match at a measured pace.

The result leaves Brazil in a commanding position within the group, their qualification hopes strengthened by both the points and the manner of the victory's second half. For Haiti, the scoreline was harsher than the performance deserved, and there was defiance in defeat that they will hope to carry into their final group match.