MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Brazil star Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior knew what his critics were saying coming into this World Cup, that he just can\u2019t score on soccer\u2019s biggest stage the way he can at Real Madrid.<\/p>\n
He clearly didn\u2019t listen.<\/p>\n
Vinicius has four goals now in this tournament \u2014 only Lionel Messi, with five, has more \u2014 and the flashy Brazilian got two on Wednesday night in his team\u2019s 3-0 win over Scotland.<\/p>\n
\u201cFaith that I was going to improve, for the talent that I have \u2026 I was sure that at the right moment I would shine again with the Brazilian team shirt,\u201d Vin\u00edcius said.<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t wrong and is tied for second with France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 and Norway\u2019s Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race, right behind Messi.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing is better than going back to the World Cup, to the place where I always dreamed of being,\u201d Vinicius said. \u201cTo be able to represent my family, to be able to represent a country as important as Brazil, I believe that there is nothing better.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also became the fifth member of an exclusive club of Brazilians to score in all three group stage games, and the first to do so since Ronaldo and Rivaldo both did so in 2002.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were always times when I couldn\u2019t show my football,\u201d Vin\u00edcius said. \u201cIt brings a certain relief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti coached Vin\u00edcius at Real Madrid from 2021 to 2025. While guiding Vin\u00edcius to global stardom along the way, Ancelotti \u2014 who Vin\u00edcius calls the best coach in the world \u2014 won two Champions Leagues, two La Liga titles and one Copa del Rey in that span.<\/p>\n
And while wearing Brazil colors for Ancelotti, Vin\u00edcius has been completely reinvigorated. In 39 games for Brazil under previous coaches, Vin\u00edcius netted just six goals. In just 13 under Ancelotti, he has scored seven.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no question in my mind of how far or well he\u2019d come to this World Cup,\u201d Ancelotti said. \u201cIt makes him happy to play for the national team. He\u2019s doing a brilliant job.\u201d<\/p>\n
After his goal against Haiti in Brazil\u2019s second World Cup game, Vin\u00edcius joked that he needs to listen to Ancelotti more.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure when we get to the dressing room, he\u2019ll say he knows a lot about football,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But so does Vin\u00edcius. And he promises to get even better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will also evolve and improve in the competition,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the hope only increases between us, between our fans and between our family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Brazil star Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior knew what his critics were saying coming into this World Cup, that he just can\u2019t score on soccer\u2019s biggest stage the way he can at Real Madrid. He clearly didn\u2019t listen. Vinicius has four goals now in this tournament \u2014 only Lionel Messi, with five, has … Continue reading Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior silences critics with 2 more goals, giving him 4 in this World Cup for Brazil<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1452],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1518302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-06-27 10:47:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1518302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1518303,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518302\/revisions\/1518303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1518302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1518302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1518302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}