Matheus Cunha Scores Twice as Brazil Eliminate Haiti at World Cup 2026
A deflection that fell kindly, then a strike that needed no luck at all. That was the arc of Matheus Cunha’s first half in Philadelphia, where two goals in thirteen minutes turned a cautious afternoon into a statement and ended Haiti’s World Cup before the group stage had even finished.
Cunha scored twice as Brazil beat Haiti 3-0 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 2026, in their Group C match at the 2026 World Cup. The result moved Brazil top of the group and confirmed Haiti’s elimination, with two games still left to play.
Here is the direct answer for anyone catching up: Brazil beat Haiti 3-0. Cunha scored in the 23rd and 36th minutes, and Vinicius Junior added a third in first-half stoppage time. All three goals came before halftime, and Haiti never found a way back into the contest.
The first goal did not come from a moment of individual brilliance, and Cunha would likely admit as much. Vinicius cut in from the left and curled an effort that Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide could only parry, and the ball fell straight into Cunha’s path from eight yards out. He did not need to think twice. The finish was simple, almost routine, but it broke a deadlock that had Brazil looking nervy after an opening draw against Morocco left them needing a response.
The second goal told a different story entirely. Haiti lost possession cheaply in midfield, and Vinicius played Cunha clean through on the left side of the box. This time there was no parry to pounce on, no gift handed to him. Cunha took the ball in stride and smashed a first-time finish into the roof of the net, the kind of strike that announces a player is in the kind of form that cannot be talked about as luck anymore. It was his second goal in thirteen minutes, and it effectively ended the contest as a contest.
For Cunha, a forward who arrived at Manchester United last year and has spent the season building a reputation as one of the Premier League’s most direct attacking threats, this was the moment his club form translated fully onto the World Cup stage. He finished the match with two shots on target from two attempts and 0.83 expected goals, a return that reflected not just opportunity but conversion. Truth is, plenty of strikers get one good chance in a World Cup group game. Cunha got two, and scored both.
Vinicius added gloss to the performance with a goal of his own in first-half stoppage time, latching onto a Lucas Paqueta pass to slot past Placide. By that point Haiti, who had set up defensively to limit Brazil’s space, had been picked apart twice by the same pairing of Cunha and Vinicius working off each other. Raphinha went off injured before the break, a concerning note inside an otherwise dominant half, but Brazil never needed him again.
Haiti pushed for a response after the interval and forced a smart save from Alisson Becker on the hour mark, but they finished the match without a goal and with their tournament already over. For Cunha, the night carried none of that weight. He walked off in the 64th minute to applause from the Brazil supporters, his work finished, his country sitting top of Group C, and a place in the next round edging closer with every passing match. Two goals in thirteen minutes is the kind of spell that gets remembered long after the final whistle, and for a player still proving himself at this level, it was exactly the kind of night that changes how people talk about him.