Vinicius goal spree omen of Brazil’s sixth World Cup?

Brazil’s Vinicius Junior scored twice in Brazil’s 3-0 rout of Scotland in their final group stage match on Thursday, completing a rare World Cup record in the process – a feat that has only happened in World Cups which the Selecao have won.

Vinicius struck twice in the first half against Scotland, taking his tally of World Cup goals to four.

He had earlier scored one goal each in Brazil’s first two Group C match against Morocco and Haiti.

With his goals against Scotland, he became only the fifth Brazilian player to get on the scoresheet in all group stage matches in a World Cup.

He joined the list of Jairzinho (1970), Romario (1994), and Ronaldo and Rivaldo (2002) – all editions where Brazil won the trophy.

Vinicius has so far been Brazil’s standout player in the tournament, being named the player-of-the-match in all three of Brazil’s World Cup matches so far.

Vinicius currently sits second in the World Cup Golden Boot race alongside France’s Kylian Mbappe, and Norway’s Erling Haaland. However, both Mbappe and Haaland still have a match to go in the group stage.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi tops the chart with five goals in two appearances.