Van Anderson opened his account for Brazil when the Seleção scored in the third minute against Australia in a friendly at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Tuesday – but the Aussies turned the score around inside 31 minutes before a Rafinha penalty sent the teams level at half-time.
Ice cold from the spot by Rafinha 🥶
The Barcelona star equalizes the score for Brazil with a clinical penalty kick 🎯
He watches #AUSvBRA Live and exclusively on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/mIpsKILxhP
– Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) September 29, 2026
Monaco is broad Vandersonwho received a late call-up after Wesley was injured, collected Gabriel Bontempo’s short pass inside the box on the right flank and slotted a half-volley past goalkeeper Patrick Beech to put the visitors ahead in style.
Beach made a wonderful save on two shots to prevent Brazil from doubling the lead one minute later, as he blocked two shots from Barcelona striker Rafinha from inside the penalty area after Bournemouth player Ryan passed the ball to the top scorer in the Spanish League with 12 goals.
What a strike from Connor Metcalfe! 🚀
Hero from CommBank @socceroosThe first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is back, with Australia taking the lead! 🔥
He watches #AUSvBRA Live and exclusively on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/PY554vAVRH
– Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) September 29, 2026
Those saves seemed even more valuable when he was Benfica’s centre-back Look for them It was passed to equalize at the back post from a corner kick, with the goal allowed after a VAR check.
Five minutes later, St. Pauli midfielder Connor Metcalfe ended a complex period of Australian passing with a stunning shot beyond 20-year-old goalkeeper Otavio.
Alessandro Cercati settled the matter for CommBank @socceroos After some confusion VAR! 🔥
He hit the ball home perfectly in Australia’s first match, and replays proved he wasn’t offside! 💪
He watches #AUSvBRA Live and exclusively on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/P8il95HXlD
– Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) September 29, 2026
Rafinha then fired a penalty kick in the 45th minute, after referee Yusuke Araki consulted the pitch monitor to decide that Hari Sottar had committed a foul on Danilo Santos.
Brazil got off to a very fast start in Brisbane ⚡️🇧🇷
Van Anderson scores his first goal for the Seleção, firing into the top corner within three minutes 🎯
He watches #AUSvBRA Live and exclusively on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/8ggyrsTV7P
– Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) September 29, 2026
Australia vs Brazil: Rafinha friendly penalty kick
The two teams met for the second time in four days, after drawing 1-1 in Townsville on Friday after Al Rayyan scored the equalizer in the 94th minute.
Athletic winger Nestori Irankunda had put Australia ahead during the second half of that match with a stunning free-kick, and the 20-year-old’s side showed their credentials once again by responding in dramatic fashion to falling behind in the second game of a double-header.
Australia is playing its first match since being eliminated from the World Cup on penalties by Egypt in the round of 32, while Brazil lost 2-1 to Norway in the round of 16.
Australia national team against Brazil
Australia coach Tony Popovic has named an unchanged line-up as part of a squad that includes two highly experienced players – goalkeeper Matt Ryan and midfielder Matt Leckie – among the surprise omissions.
Brondby winger Marcus Younis made his Townsville debut, with Jacob Chapman, Kelly Adamson, Eli Adams, Yaya Dokoli, Casey Boss and Dylan Leonard all set to make their international debuts from the bench.
Alex Robertson (medical reasons), Mohamed Toure (shoulder), Christian Volpato (hamstring), Cameron Burgess (Achilles) and Jordan Boss (knee) were injured.
Australia: Patrick Beech, Jacob Italiano, Alessandro Cercati, Hari Soutar, Lucas Herrington, Aziz Behić, Connor Metcalf, Jackson Irvine, Paul Okun-Engstler, Nestori Irankunda, Tite Yenji.
Alternatives: Jacob Chapman, Milos Degenek, Casey Bos, Jason Geria, Patrick Yazbek, Nishan Velupillay, Marcus Younes, Paul Izzo, Aiden O’Neill, Riley McGree, Dylan Leonard, Eli Adams, Kelly Adamson, Yaya Dokoli.
Brazil national team vs Australia
Danilo Santos, Bruno Guimarães, Rafinha and Vinicius Junior were the only players to retain the Brazil squad after the draw was made four days ago.
Santos midfielder Gabriel Bontempo made his debut and PSV Eindhoven winger Mauro Junior was given a full brace, having come off the bench in the first game.
Brazil: Otavio, Vanderson, Jair Cunha, Gabriel Magalhaes, Mauro Junior, Gabriel Bontemps, Bruno Guimaraes, Danilo Santos, Ryan, Rafinha, Vinicius Junior.
Alternatives: Hugo Souza, Marquinhos, Douglas Santos, Endrik, Willian Estevao, Matheusinho, Vitor Reis, Arthur Dias, Breno Bidon, Douglas Luiz, Pedro, Matthews Martinelli, Andre Santos, Samuel Leno, Pedro Moresco.
Where to watch the Australia-Brazil match: TV channel, live stream online
The start was on Tuesday at 11:15 GMT (08:15 ET / 05:15 PT). The match is not being shown live in the UK.
Statistics for the friendly match between Australia and Brazil
- Australia’s only win over Brazil was a 1-0 win in the third-place match at the Confederations Cup in Ulsan in June 2001, with Shaun Murphy heading home in the 84th minute.
- They had more than four hours and four minutes of football between that goal and the next against Brazil via Irancunda
- Six of the previous nine meetings between the two teams have resulted in Brazil winning a clean sheet, including each of the previous three encounters before last week’s 1-1 draw.
- By scoring first-half goals in Brisbane, Australia doubled their historic tally against Brazil and scored twice in a match against the Seleção for the first time.
- Each of their last three matches has finished after 90 minutes, and they are winless in four matches since their 2-0 win over Türkiye during the World Cup group stage on June 13.
- It was the only occasion in their last seven matches that Australia had scored more than once in a single match, since their 5-1 win over Curacao in the FIFA series in Melbourne on March 31.
- 22 of the 24 goals in the previous match were scored by Brazil, including five goals by the match’s all-time top scorer, Romario.
- While a player at Crystal Palace, Popovic spent time learning from current Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti during the Italian’s spell at Milan.
- Brazil have scored in 15 consecutive matches since their 1-0 defeat to Bolivia in a World Cup qualifier in September 2025, although they have scored just once in three of their previous four matches so far.
- Including this goal, Rafinha has made 15 appearances in 10 matches in La Liga, the Champions League and Brazil since the start of the season.
