Brazil opens World Cup qualifiers with rout against Bolivia

It was a gala presentation. Dominant from start to finish, Brazil took no notice of Bolivia at Mangueirão, this Friday (8), and achieved a 5-1 victory, in the first round of the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Neymar’s return after more than 270 days, the number 10 became the greatest scorer in the team’s history, with 79 goals, Rodrygo scored two and Raphinha completed the rout in Belém. The Bolivian goal was scored by Ábrego.

With the result, Fernando Diniz begins his career with the Brazilian team with victory, just as happened with Tite in 2016. In this way, Brazil has the first three points in the World Cup Qualifiers. Now, the Brazilians are preparing to go to Lima, where they will face Peru next Tuesday.

With more than 43 thousand people at Mangueirão, the Brazilian team started the game performing as expected. Having the ball, occupying the attacking field and seeking to increase the pace in the exchange of passes, Brazil did not let Bolivia breathe and sought the goal from the first minute.

Managing to use the ends of the field, with Rodrygo and Raphinha, the team found spaces and got a penalty. In a collective move on the left, Rodrygo received it on the left of the area, crossed low and the ball caught the hand of the Bolivian defender. At the kick, Neymar kicked low and Viscarra made the save.

Even after the missed penalty, the rhythm and story of the game did not change. With Brazil ‘renting’ the attacking field, the goal came out. At 23 minutes, Raphinha received a good pass from Danilo inside the area, finished and goalkeeper Viscarra made the save. On the rebound, the ball exploded in a defender and was clean for Rodrygo to complete for the goal and make it 1 to 0.

After the 1-0, the offensive volume of Diniz’s team remained the same. Betting and achieving success with quick exchanges of passes, Brazil controlled the pace and saw Richarlison and Neymar stop in great saves from Viscarra in the final third of the first half of the match.

The second half started with a goal. After two minutes, Raphinha received the ball on the right edge of the area, cut inside and finished low to double the Brazilian advantage on the scoreboard. Five minutes later, Rodrygo scored his second of the match. In yet another quick exchange of passes in the middle, Bruno Guimarães hit a pass behind the defense and the Real Madrid striker dominated and touched the goalkeeper’s exit to make it 3-0. The move was only confirmed after more than four minutes due to of a VAR review.

Without taking their foot off, Brazil did not let Bolivia breathe and Neymar became the greatest scorer in the history of the Brazilian national team. At 16, the pace of the exchange of passes increased in the attacking field, the cross was made from the right for Rodrygo, the attacker was disarmed when trying to cut the marking and the ball was left for Neymar to shoot into the goal and score his 78th with the national team shirt. Now, the Al-Hilal striker is the best scorer in the history of Brazil.

With 4-0 on the scoreboard, Brazil seemed to relax a little on the field and Bolivia took advantage. After a deep throw, Ábrego protected the marking, cleared the ball and finished strong from the top to score the Bolivians’ first goal in Belém. In the final minutes, Brazil once again scared the Bolivian defense. With a shot from Neymar, which hit the crossbar and a header from Joelinton that made goalkeeper Viscarra stretch and knocked the paint off the post.

In stoppage time, Brazil scored the fifth. Raphinha received it on the right, took it deep and crossed for Neymar to complete the goal, scoring his 79th goal for the national team and closing the score at 5-1 for the Brazilian team.

DATASHEET

BRAZIL 5 X 1 BOLIVIA

BRAZIL – Éderson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães (Ibañez) and Renan Lodi (Caio Henrique); Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães (Joelinton), Neymar and Rodrygo (Gabriel Jesus); Raphinha and Richarlison (Matheus Cunha). Coach: Fernando Diniz.

BOLIVIA – Viscarra; Quinteros, Jusino and Suárez; Fernández (Roca), Cespedes (Ursino), Villamil, Bejarano (Cuéllar) and Medina; Arrascaita (Cuellar) and Marcelo Moreno (Ábrego). Coach: Gustavo Costas

GOALS – Rodrygo, 23 minutes into the first half and 7 minutes into the second half, Raphinha, 2 minutes into the second half, Neymar, 15 minutes and 47 minutes into the second half, and Ábrego, 32 minutes into the second half.

YELLOW CARDS – Neymar, Marcelo Moreno and Ursino.

REFEREE – Juan G. Benitez (PAR).

PUBLIC – 43,188 people.

INCOME – BRL 10,887,550.00.

LOCAL – Mangueirão Stadium, Belém.

*With information from IstoÉ

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