Brazil tie Switzerland 1-1 in disappointing performance from World Cup favorites

Brazil tied Switzerland 1-1 on Sunday in the final game of Day 4 of the World Cup. It’s a massive result for a Switzerland side that looked completely outmatched for the first 45 minutes of the game, then gained a little composure, scored a goal off a set piece, and then defended beautifully to see out the match. Brazil will be disappointed to not pull out 3 points in the first match of a a tournament they expect to compete for, if not win outright.

The first 45 minutes was almost all Brazil, as the attacking trio of Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Willian seemed to move about the pitch as they pleased. Paulinho had a beautiful chance to score early, when he found the ball at his feet inside the six yard box, but dragged his shot wide. The break came when Phillippe Coutinho collected a cleared ball at the left edge of the box, gathered it, and fired in a curling right hand shot off the post and in the top right corner, one of the most beautiful goals we’ve seen at this World Cup.

But Brazil’s party was rudely interrupted early in the second half, when Switzerland earned a corner kick, played it in, and found Steven Zuber — with the aid of a shove on the back of a Brazil defender — alone for an easy header in the net.

From there, it was all hands on deck for the Swiss defense, who kept out several clear Brazil chances and earned a valuable point.

The last World Cup game on Sunday will feature a Group F matchup between Brazil and Switzerland. The game will take place at the Rostov Arena in Rostov-On-Don, Russia at 2 p.m. on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports Go.

Brazil, another favorite in this year’s World Cup, is hoping its star attacker Neymar will be fully healthy from a foot fracture he suffered when playing with Paris Saint-Germain.

Brazil is maybe the deepest and most complete team in this World Cup, and they’ve built their attack around Neymar, the country’s most famous player and perhaps most gifted attacker. The PSG star will operate most likely out on the left wing, but what’s so good about this Brazil team is that they have a lot of options to build an attack depending on what the opponent throws at them. Neymar’s an important piece, but this team has lots and lots of really good players.

Xhaka, the Arsenal man, is a tough-nosed midfielder who can run box to box and will be important for a Swiss side that looks to gum things up and hold the Brazil side in check. Will he and they be able to do that? Possibly! Unclear! But he’s talked ahead of the tournament about not being afraid of Neymar, and after Mexico shocked Germany this morning, perhaps Sunday will be the big day of upsets at the World Cup.