Brazil limbered up for the match by taking a stroll around Doha’s Souq Waqif. They emerged unscathed, with wallets still largely intact, but Switzerland proved nowhere near as generous as Qatar’s market traders and, for a long time here, threatened to rob Tite’s team of their cloak of invincibility.
Ultimately Casemiro’s glorious 83rd‑minute half‑volley, dispatched with the outside of his right foot, propelled the pre‑tournament favourites into the knockout stages but much of the action emphasised precisely why all the pre‑match focus had centred on a man who was never going to appear on the pitch.
Neymar divides opinion in Brazil – and not just because of his far right‑leaning politics or sizeable ego – but a well-drilled Switzerland provided ample evidence of his importance. It is no exaggeration to say his ankle injury-induced absence was keenly felt.
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Brazil’s manager initially compensated for the loss of his attacking talisman by advancing Lucas Paquetá into the front three from midfield, with Fred joining his Manchester United colleague Casemiro further back. It is not too harsh to say Fred’s impact was peripheral. “Switzerland have the best defence,” Tite said. “And we do miss Neymar.”
Murat Yakin’s Switzerland arrived at Stadium 974 slightly late after being involved in a minor road accident en route. It seems the driver of their team bus allowed his mind to wander as traffic near the ground slowed to a crawl and ended up crashing into the back of the police escort car in front. That collision in turn left the vehicle travelling immediately behind the coach unable to brake in time before adding to the pile‑up.
Mercifully no one was hurt and, to Brazil’s dismay, Switzerland’s superbly sustained concentration contrasted markedly with that of their driver. The tone was set when the right‑back, Silvan Widmer, swiftly, and unceremoniously, halted a rather offended-looking Vinícius Júnior in his tracks. Such no‑frills Swiss interruptions would prove a theme.
Although there were some gorgeous cameos of sharp, slick, imaginative and sometimes gloriously improvisational one- and two‑touch football from Brazil, their final ball lacked incision against deep‑sitting opponents. Yakin’s well-structured, efficiently organised team had been set up to play on the counter-attack and, when Casemiro caught the accelerating Breel Embolo, late from behind, he was fortunate to escape a booking.
With every passing minute Neymar’s value to Brazil seemed incrementally enhanced. Significantly almost half an hour had passed before Yann Sommer made a save.
When, courtesy of Raphinha’s left‑footed, right‑wing cross that opening finally arrived, Switzerland’s goalkeeper proved equal to the challenge, parrying a slightly scuffed half‑volley from the unmarked Vinícius Júnior.
It was Brazil’s first shot on target – a statistic reflecting their struggles to translate possession into actual chances.. Sommer cannot have expected to have had so little involvement. Was history about to repeat itself and were two countries who had drawn both of their previous World Cup meetings – in 1950 and 2018 – poised to complete a statistical trilogy?
Paquetá did not re-emerge for the second period, having been replaced by Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, a forward many Brazil fans believed should have deputised for Neymar in the first place. Before the soon to be influential Rodrygo had time to get going, though, Switzerland nearly scored when Widmer’s cross resulted in Vinícius Júnior blocking Djibril Sow’s goal-bound shot.
The moment for change had arrived and Tite duly altered his midfield, replacing Fred with Newcastle’s Bruno Guimarães whose passing and movement immediately began lifting the overwhelmingly yellow‑shirted, Brazil‑supporting audience’s mood and asking Switzerland questions they could not always answer.
It was a pass from Guimarães – albeit slightly overhit – that initiated the sequence of events which led to Vinícius Júnior receiving Casemiro’s pass, riding Nico Elvedi’s challenge and squeezing the ball just inside a post with Sommer beaten.
Brazil’s entire bench raced to the touchline to celebrate but a VAR review spoilt the party after detecting that Richarlison, who played Casemiro in, had been offside. After proving integral to the defeat of Serbia last week, Richarlison found himself shunted to the margins by a Swiss backline offered further protection by Granit Xhaka’s reassuring central midfield presence.
Yet, as the game wore on, Brazil increasingly stretched Yakin’s defensive elastic. It finally snapped when Casemiro met Rodrygo’s pass and applied his right boot to the ball and sent a half‑volley swerving into the net leaving a wrong-footed, static, Sommer – possibly deceived by the gentlest of deflections off Manuel Akanji – helpless.
By the final whistle Switzerland had mustered just six shots, and none on target. Alisson had not been required to make a single save. Was Yakin right to drop Xherdan Shaqiri, so often his creative catalyst? It would be no surprise to see the winger return in the final group game against Serbia as his side aim to join Brazil, and it is hoped, Neymar in the last 16.
As Tite’s sometimes unsung midfield anchor, Casemiro is known as the invisible man but at the end of a long, hard night on the edge of the Arabian Sea he finally compensated for the absence of the man who was not there.
“Casemiro is the surprise element,” Brazil’s exultant manager said. “He infiltrates from the back. Neymar has big creative power but other players are getting there.”
