Brazil and Haiti face each other in their Group C Round 2 match as both team looks to bounce back after they dropped points in Round 1.
Brazil vs Haiti – Match preview and team news
- Date: Saturday, 20th June.
- Kick-off: 1:30am BST.
- Venue: Philadelphia Stadium, Pennsylvania.
Brazil team news
Brazil enters this second Group C match with Neymar remainining sidelined. The Brazilian Football Confederation confirmed he stayed at their training base to recover from a right calf injury.
Head coach Carlo Ancelotti is expected to rotate his lineup following a sluggish opening draw against Morocco.
With Neymar unavailable, Matheus Cunha is tipped to lead the attack. He will get support on the wings from Real Madrid winger Vinícius Júnior and Barcelona’s Raphinha.
Explosive young talents like Endrick, and Gabriel Martinelli are also pushing for minutes from the bench.
In midfield, veteran Casemiro might get a rest after a heavy workload. This opens the door for Fabinho to step into the starting squad alongside Bruno Guimarães.
The defense should remain steady with Alisson in goal behind central defenders Marquinhos and Gabriel, aiming for a much-needed clean sheet.
Haiti team news
Haiti comes into this tough fixture after a narrow opening loss to Scotland, but head coach Sébastien Migné is likely to keep his lineup mostly unchanged.
The squad remains highly motivated after a fighting performance. Their only major roster update was a late pre-tournament switch where defender Garven Metusala replaced the injured Leverton Pierre.
Haiti will rely heavily on defender Hannes Delcroix, who showed incredible composure by completing all his passes in the first game.
He will anchor the backline alongside experienced goalkeeper Johny Placide. In the attack, Wolverhampton midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Sunderland forward Wilson Isidor will lead the charge.
They will look to exploit any gaps in the Brazilian defense on the counter-attack. Wingers Louicius Deedson and Ruben Providence will also provide speed on the flanks to helper transition the ball quickly up the pitch.
Form
Brazil
Brazil enters the match in strong overall form despite a slow start to the World Cup. They opened Group C with a 1-1 draw against Morocco. Before the tournament, Brazil found plenty of success in warm-up games. They picked up dominant wins over Panama (6-2) and Croatia (3-1), along with a tight 2-1 victory against Egypt. Their only slip-up was a narrow 2-1 friendly loss to France.
Haiti
Haiti is searching for momentum after a tough 1-0 opening defeat to Scotland in the group stage. Their recent friendly matches show inconsistent form ahead of the tournament. While they celebrated an impressive 4-0 shutout win over New Zealand, they struggled to find results elsewhere. They tied 1-1 with Iceland but suffered close losses to both Tunisia (1-0) and Peru (2-1).
Predicted lineups
Brazil: Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Santos; Fabinho, Guimaraes; Raphinha, Paqueta, Vinicius; Cunha
Haiti: Placide; Arcus, Delcroix, Ade, Experience; Bellegarde, Jean; Deedson, Casimir, Providence; Isidor
How to watch Brazil vs Haiti?
You can watch the Brazil vs Haiti match free-to-air on ITV1 and STV in the UK.
Read Also – Scotland vs Morocco – Match preview and team news
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