Late Casemiro strike gets Brazil dancing into last 16

Midfielder Casemiro showed his misfiring strikers how to finish on Monday when he lashed in an unstoppable late shot to give Brazil a 1-0 win over Switzerland that sent them into the World Cup knockout stage with a game to spare.

A largely featureless game had been meandering towards a goalless draw when Casemiro struck seven minutes from time to take Brazil to six points at the top of Group G.

The absence of injured striker Neymar had hung like a shadow over a shoddy Brazil, with only a disallowed goal by Vinicius Jr bringing their huge support to life before the goal.

Brazil have six points, Switzerland three and Cameroon and Serbia, who drew 3-3 earlier on Monday, have one each – with all three teams still in the hunt to progress.