Scotland beat Morocco 1-0 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on 19 June, John McGinn scoring his second decisive goal in two matches after his winner against Haiti , the nation's first World Cup win since 1990 1. Scotland lead Group C on six points and now face Brazil on 24 June with the group on the line.
That fixture has tilted toward Scotland. Brazil sit on one point and remain without Neymar, ruled out of the entire group stage with a calf injury . Neymar will not travel to Philadelphia for the Haiti match and stays at Brazil's New Jersey base, though he trained briefly with teammates on Wednesday for the first time, with medical staff still targeting the knockout rounds rather than the group 2.
The absence reshapes the decider. Brazil's attack runs through Neymar's ability to create from deep, and without him the side has scored once in two matches against opponents Scotland would expect to match. A Scotland win over a Brazil missing its talisman would rank among the tournament's biggest upsets, and the format makes the stakes blunt: the group winner advances directly while Brazil now risk a group-stage exit they have not suffered since 1966.
