Philadelphia, Jun 20 (V7N) – Brazil returned to winning form with a convincing 3-0 victory over Haiti in their second FIFA World Cup group-stage match on Saturday, climbing to the top of Group C and sealing Haiti's elimination from the tournament.

After being held to a draw by Morocco in their opening match, Carlo Ancelotti's side responded in dominant fashion against the Caribbean nation.

Matheus Cunha, handed a starting role ahead of Brentford striker Igor Thiago, opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. Haiti defender Hannes Delcroix attempted to clear the ball, but it deflected off Cunha and into the net, giving Brazil an early lead.

Cunha doubled Brazil's advantage in the 36th minute with an impressive finish. Receiving a pass from Vinícius Júnior, the forward unleashed a powerful shot that beat the Haitian goalkeeper to complete his brace.

Brazil added a third goal in first-half stoppage time when Vinícius Júnior calmly finished after collecting a superb through ball from Lucas Paquetá. The Real Madrid star's strike was his second goal of the tournament.

Despite the comfortable victory, Brazil suffered an injury setback as Barcelona winger Raphinha was forced off in the first half. Bournemouth youngster Ryan replaced him for the remainder of the match.

Haiti created one notable chance after the break, but Brazil goalkeeper Alisson produced an excellent save to deny Ricardo Adé's header from a corner kick.

Teenage forward Endrick later thought he had marked his FIFA World Cup debut with a goal, but the effort was ruled out for offside.

The match also marked a historic milestone for Brazil. The Seleção fielded their oldest starting lineup since the 1962 FIFA World Cup, with an average age of 30 years and 190 days, compared with 30 years and 216 days in 1962.

It was also only the second time in Brazil's World Cup history that two players under the age of 20—Ryan and Endrick—featured in the same match. The previous instance came during the 1958 World Cup, when Pelé and Mazzola played together against Wales.

With the victory, Brazil strengthened their position at the top of Group C and moved a step closer to securing a place in the knockout stage, while Haiti's hopes of progressing came to an end.

END/SMA/AJ