World Cup 2026: Bello’s Late Header Stuns Brazil as Venezuela Take Valuable Point

Brazil 1-1 Venezuela

Venezuela did manage to put a small dent in Brazil’s form in the ongoing World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign after holding them to a 1-1 draw at the Arena Pantanal on Thursday evening.

Brazil took the lead in the 50^th minute when Gabriel Magalhaes opened the scoring, and it looked like they were about to win once again. However, Eduard Bello came out of nowhere 35 minutes later to score the late equaliser.

It was one of the World Cup 2026 results that only a few saw coming, probably except if you’re a Venezuelan fan, because Brazil have had Venezuela’s number in recent meetings.

Following last night’s games, Brazil have fallen to second place with seven points, while Argentina took sole ownership of the top berth after they took care of business against Paraguay in Daniel Garnero’s first game in charge.

In case you missed it, SBOTOP is here to recap last night’s fun World Cup qualifier match between the Samba Boys and La Vinotinto.

Highlights of the game

Brazil and Venezuela both started the game aggressively in the final third, and they had several decent chances in the first half.

A few minutes after Neymar’s 25-yard attempt struck the crossbar, Venezuelan goalkeeper Rafael Romo easily saved Rodrygo’s low shot.

Salomon Rondon also had his forays into Brazil’s penalty box, but Casemiro was closest to kicking off the scoring when his long-range attempt was palmed by Romo in the 38^th minute.

In the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, Brazil took the lead in the 50th minute against Venezuela, courtesy of Gabriel's goal — After scoring the first goal against Venezuela, Gabriel celebrated with his Brazil teammates

Early in the second half, however, it was the Samba Boys who took control, which culminated in a goal from Gabriel Magalhaes, who met Neymar’s corner-kick with a powerful header at the near post for his first Brazil goal.

For the second consecutive contest, another Brazilian centre-back found the back of the net after Marquinhos did the same in their 1-0 victory against Peru last month.

The Samba Boys had multiple chances to double their lead, but to no avail since Neymar and Rodrygo fluffed their chances on the counter-attack.

Brazil thought they made it 2-0 when Vinicius Jr. found the back of the net in the 71^st minute. Unfortunately for Brazil, it was disallowed for offside.

Venezuela were suddenly on the offencive when they forced a full-stretch save from Ederson. And after a few more tries, La Vinotinto finally tied the game, courtesy of Eduard Bello.

The super sub contorted his body to convert Jefferson Savarino’s cross with a superb overhead kick in the final minutes of regulation, and that was enough to stun the hosts.

Key statistics

As expected, Brazil had more shots than Venezuela in this contest. Fernando Diniz’s men recorded 15 total shots, with six of them on target, while Fernando Batista’s side only had nine total, with two on target.

Brazil also dominated possession at 71-per cent compared to Venezuela’s 29-per cent.

Brazil had a 15-game home winning streak in World Cup qualifying matches prior to this match.

The World Cup 2026 odds had the Samba Boys as the huge favourites because La Vinotinto hadn’t beaten them in their 10 previous meetings since 2008.

While Brazil’s World Cup qualifying campaign remains intact because they’re the second seed, this result means a whole lot more for Venezuela because it kept them in the top six. They are in sixth place and are currently in a three-way tie with Uruguay and Chile at four points apiece.

Neymar’s assist on Gabriel Magalhaes was the 58^th of his international career, equaling the record previously set by Team USA legend Landon Donovan. No player in the history of men’s international football has assisted more goals than the two of them.

Only three other men have recorded at least 50 international assists, and they are Lionel Messi (53), Ferenc Puskas (53), and Sandor Kocsis (50).

The Al-Hilal forward also became the second-most capped player in Brazil’s history after last night, making his 127^th appearance for the national team, overtaking Dani Alves (126 caps). He needs to play 16 more games to leapfrog Cafu, who has 142 caps.

PREMIER LEAGUE