Guimarães Penalty Dooms Brazil in Norway Loss

Brazil's pre-game decision to have Bruno Guimarães take the penalty instead of Vinícius Júnior backfired dramatically. With Vinícius having the ball at the spot and Brazil leading scorer, he surprisingly handed it to Guimarães, whose 14th-minute penalty was saved by Ørjan Nyland. Brazil would not score until stoppage time when Neymar converted their second penalty, but it was too late as Norway secured a 2-1 victory. betsport.cv

Assistant coach Davide Ancelotti confirmed the decision was made before the match, explaining that "to miss a penalty can happen in football." The loss marks Brazil's earliest World Cup exit since 1990 and their first failure to reach the quarterfinals in that timeframe. Despite Neymar joining Pelé as the only Brazilian players to score in four World Cups, the five-time champions were eliminated, leaving them to question their penalty strategy for years to come.