Published June 1, 2026
Vinicius Jr. turned the Maracanã into his own personal welcome party, scoring a stunning goal early on and then scoring another to lead Brazil to a 6-2 friendly victory over Panama as the five-time world champion sharpened his nails before the World Cup.
With less than two weeks until the 2026 World Cup, Brazil will be without Neymar, who is expected to miss the opening game against Morocco on June 13 with a calf injury, while Gabriel Magalhães, Marquinhos and Gabriel Martinelli will also be absent after Saturday’s Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.
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This means that local boy Vinicius, who came through Flamengo’s youth set-up, returns to the spotlight at the stadium he once called home. It took him less than two minutes to communicate.
Casemiro thwarted Panama’s attack from the back, and Vinicius snatched the loose ball and raced towards goal, firing a powerful shot from the edge of the box into the top left corner.
Panama momentarily ruined their script in the 14th minute when Michael Murillo’s free-kick deflected off Matheus Cunha off the wall, allowing Alisson to kick in with his wrong foot and roll inside the left post to silence the crowd.
However, Vinicius restored order in the 39th minute with a superb shot from the left, slipping past two defenders and lifting a cross for Casemiro to head home.
Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti made almost all of his team changes at halftime, leaving only center back Leo Pereira in the starting lineup, with substitutes quickly joining the game.
Seven minutes after the restart, a confused attempt by Orlando Mosquera to play with his feet gave Rayan the ball, and he smashed it into an empty net.
Lucas Paqueta curled a shot past Mosquera to make it 4-1 in the 60th minute, but added a fifth three minutes later when Igor Thiago converted a penalty after being brought down by the Panamanian goalkeeper.
Danilo added a sixth goal in the 81st minute with a shot from inside the box, before Carlos Harvey hit back three minutes later with a powerful shot into the top corner.
Brazil will play Egypt next weekend before taking on Morocco in their Group C opener. Panama, who are in Group L alongside England, Croatia and Ghana, will play the Dominican Republic and Bosnia before facing Ghana in their first World Cup match on June 16.
USA defeats Senegal 3-2 in World Cup preliminaries
The U.S. national team scored an encouraging 3-2 victory over Senegal in a World Cup warm-up friendly on Sunday. Christian Pulisic scored one goal and added another before Folarin Balogun scored the winning goal in the second half.
Seven minutes into the game, Sergino Dest put the Reds in front by pressing in Pulisic’s cross from the left, before Pulisic doubled their lead in the 20th minute with a composed finish from a narrow angle past the goalkeeper.
Senegal’s through ball from Habib Diarra cut through the American back line, and captain Sadio Mane pulled off a quick counterattack to close the gap just before halftime.
Balogun had his goal ruled out for offside early in the second half, but Mane capitalized on a defensive error to equalize in the 52nd minute.
However, the AS Monaco striker made no mistake after the hour mark, latching onto Tim Weah’s cross to restore the lead and seal victory for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
The United States, which is co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico, will play another warm-up match against Germany on Saturday before opening Group D against Paraguay on June 12.
Senegal will play France in their first Group I match on June 16, and will also face Iraq and Norway.
