Match ends, Brazil 2, Croatia 0.
Brazil 2-0 Croatia
- From the section Football
Neymar scored a brilliant goal on his return from injury as Brazil began their World Cup preparations with a win over Croatia at Anfield.
The Paris St-Germain star, 26, smashed a shot in off the bar after a slick move involving Chelsea's Willian and Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho.
Croatia's high tempo created first-half chances for Dejan Lovren and Andrej Kramaric.
But Liverpool's Roberto Firmino scored in added time to seal the victory.
Brazil, who became the first team to qualify for the World Cup in March, face Austria next Sunday before starting their Group E campaign against Switzerland on 17 June.
The return of their talisman Neymar, who joined PSG from Barcelona for £200m last August, is well-timed after he missed more than thee months after injuring his ankle in February.
He also missed the end of Brazil's last World Cup campaign in 2014 after breaking a bone in his back during the 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia. Without him Brazil were thrashed 7-1 by Germany in the semi-final.
It was a satisfactory end on Merseyside for Firmino too - the 26-year-old has now scored 15 goals at Anfield for club and country since the start of the 2017/18 season.
Croatia can take solace from having the best of a combative first half that earned them bookings for Kramaric, shown yellow for a knee-high studs-up foul on Thiago Silva, and Ivan Perisic for hauling down Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus.
Both managers made several late substitutions that slowed the game down and Zlatko Dalic's Croatia found chances harder to come by after Neymar's introduction at half-time.
More to follow.
Line-ups
Brazil
- 1Ramses Becker
- 14Danilo
- 2Thiago Silva
- 3MirandaSubstituted forMarquinhosat 65'minutes
- 12MarceloSubstituted forFilipe Luisat 60'minutes
- 19WillianSubstituted forTaisonat 82'minutes
- 5Casemiro
- 17FernandinhoBooked at 40minsSubstituted forNeymarat 45'minutes
- 15Paulinho
- 9JesusSubstituted forFirminoat 60'minutes
- 11CoutinhoSubstituted forFredat 82'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Tonon Geromel
- 6Filipe Luis
- 7Douglas Costa
- 10Neymar
- 13Marquinhos
- 16Ramos
- 18Fred
- 20Firmino
- 21Taison
- 22Conserva Lemos
- 23Ederson
Croatia
- 23Subasic
- 2VrsaljkoSubstituted forJedvajat 87'minutes
- 5CorlukaSubstituted forCaleta-Carat 52'minutes
- 6Lovren
- 21Vida
- 19BadeljSubstituted forBrozovicat 61'minutes
- 7RakiticBooked at 78minsSubstituted forBradaricat 83'minutes
- 18RebicSubstituted forPjacaat 64'minutes
- 10ModricSubstituted forKovacicat 58'minutes
- 4PerisicBooked at 38mins
- 9KramaricBooked at 13mins
Substitutes
- 3Strinic
- 8Kovacic
- 11Brozovic
- 12Kalinic
- 13Jedvaj
- 14Bradaric
- 15Mitrovic
- 16Kalinic
- 17Mandzukic
- 20Pjaca
- 22Pivaric
- 24Caleta-Car
- Referee:
- Michael Oliver
Match Stats
Home TeamBrazilAway TeamCroatia
- Possession
- Home62%
- Away38%
- Shots
- Home15
- Away4
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away2
- Corners
- Home1
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home12
- Away15
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Brazil 2, Croatia 0.
Goal!
Goal! Brazil 2, Croatia 0. Roberto Firmino (Brazil) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Casemiro with a through ball.
Neymar (Brazil) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Tin Jedvaj (Croatia).
Attempt missed. Roberto Firmino (Brazil) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Casemiro.
Attempt blocked. Neymar (Brazil) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Casemiro.
Foul by Filipe Luís (Brazil).
Marko Pjaca (Croatia) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Roberto Firmino (Brazil) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses the top right corner. Assisted by Danilo.
Paulinho (Brazil) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Mateo Kovacic (Croatia).
Substitution
Substitution, Croatia. Tin Jedvaj replaces Sime Vrsaljko.
Attempt missed. Neymar (Brazil) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left from a direct free kick.
Paulinho (Brazil) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia).
Attempt missed. Duje Caleta-Car (Croatia) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Marcelo Brozovic with a cross following a set piece situation.
Foul by Roberto Firmino (Brazil).
Mateo Kovacic (Croatia) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution
Substitution, Croatia. Filip Bradaric replaces Ivan Rakitic.
Substitution
Substitution, Brazil. Taison replaces Willian.
Substitution
Substitution, Brazil. Fred replaces Coutinho.
Booking
Ivan Rakitic (Croatia) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Coutinho (Brazil) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Ivan Rakitic (Croatia).
Attempt blocked. Willian (Brazil) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Paulinho.
Foul by Roberto Firmino (Brazil).
Ivan Rakitic (Croatia) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Goal!
Goal! Brazil 1, Croatia 0. Neymar (Brazil) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Coutinho.
Neymar (Brazil) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ivan Rakitic (Croatia).
Corner, Croatia. Conceded by Thiago Silva.
Substitution
Substitution, Brazil. Marquinhos replaces Miranda.
Substitution
Substitution, Croatia. Marko Pjaca replaces Ante Rebic.
Offside, Brazil. Filipe Luís tries a through ball, but Neymar is caught offside.
Neymar (Brazil) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Sime Vrsaljko (Croatia).
Substitution
Substitution, Croatia. Marcelo Brozovic replaces Milan Badelj.
Substitution
Substitution, Brazil. Roberto Firmino replaces Gabriel Jesus.
Substitution
Substitution, Brazil. Filipe Luís replaces Marcelo.
