Overview
Brazil will aim for their first victory at the 2026 World Cup when facing Haiti at the Philadelphia stadium, after an unconvincing opening match against Morocco.
Carlo Ancelotti's team was held to a 1-1 draw by Morocco in the opening match. Ismael Saibari put the African representative ahead, before Vinicius Junior shone with a classy finish to keep one point for Selecao.
However, Brazil still has a lot to improve if they want to realize their ambition to win the sixth World Cup title in history.
The positive point is that Brazil has never failed to win the first 2 matches at a World Cup since the 1978 tournament in Argentina, when they drew both opening matches. At that time, there were only 16 teams in the World Cup and Selecao could not qualify for the final.
However, the yellow-green team is also experiencing a series of worrying forms. They have not won in the last 2 World Cup group stage matches, including a 0-1 defeat to Cameroon at the 2022 World Cup and a draw with Morocco at this year's tournament.
Previously, Brazil only experienced 3 consecutive group stage matches without knowing victory, taking place in the period from the 1974 World Cup to the 1978 World Cup.
However, with the format expanded to 48 teams and 32 slots in the knockout round, Brazil's chances of going further are still very bright.
On the opposite side, Haiti has just returned to the World Cup after 54 years of waiting. The last time they participated in the biggest playground on the planet was in 1974 in West Germany.
However, the 0-1 defeat to Scotland in the opening match made the door to the next round for Sebastien Migne's team much narrower. The only goal conceded came from John McGinn's shot that changed direction.
History is also not on the side of the Caribbean representative. Haiti has lost all 4 matches at the World Cup, only scored 2 goals and conceded 15 times.
In the tournament's history, only Mexico, El Salvador and Canada have ever lost their first five matches in a row at the World Cup.
However, the performance against Scotland still brought positive signals. Haiti is the team with the most shots in Group C in the first match with 15 shots, and is equal to Brazil in the number of touches in the opponent's penalty area (22).
One of Haiti's most outstanding players is Hannes Delcroix. This center-back successfully completed all 66 passes in the match against Scotland, without making any mistakes.
In addition, Delcroix also co-leaded the team in the number of times he recovered the ball and cleared the ball (6 times each). The record of 66 accurate passes is also a record for a Haitian player in a World Cup match.
Head-to-head record
This will be the first time Brazil and Haiti meet each other at a World Cup.
Previously, the two teams had met 3 times and Brazil won all 3 matches. Selecao scored 17 goals and only conceded 1 goal against the Caribbean representative.
Notably, the most recent confrontation between the two teams also took place in the United States, at Copa America 2016. At that time, Brazil won a devastating 7-1 victory over Haiti at Orlando Stadium (Florida).
Score prediction: Brazil 3-0 Haiti
The match between Brazil and Haiti takes place at 7:30 a.m. on June 20 (Vietnam time).
