Coming in to the final round of World Cup Group A play, Brazil faced off against Cameroon needing a win or draw to advance and Mexico and Croatia were essentially playing for second place in the group. Mexico needed a win or a draw to advance and Croatia needed to win outright to move on to face Netherlands who topped Group B.
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The scoring began early for Brazil as Neymar opened the scoring only 17 minutes in courtesy of poster boy Neymar and many believed the rout was on. They ended up being right but not before Cameroon would equalize from a Joel Matip tap in at the end of an Allan Nyom cross who made Dani Alves look foolish in the process.
Less than ten minutes later Neymar scored his second of the game to restore Brazil’s lead and they never looked back. Fred scored his first goal of the tournament from an offside position but the assistant referee let it stand. That was followed by the goal that sealed Brazil’s place as top of the group as Fernandinho scored courtesy of an Oscar assist.
Mexico came in to the match against Croatia with only one goal scored in their first two matches but still had the chance to advance. They would have been the first team to advance past the group stage since 1998 if they drew 0-0 but they had other ideas. Mexico unleashed their offensive talents on the unsuspecting Croatians and put three goals past Stipe Pletikosa. Rafa Marquez opened the scoring with a towering header, Andres Guardado finished a brilliant counterattack, and Chicharito Hernandez scored the third goal for his first international goal since last summer’s Confederations Cup in Brazil.
Brazil will face Group B runners up Chile to open the second round on Saturday, June 28th and Mexico will face Netherlands on Sunday the 29th.
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